Westminster volleyball was chosen to finish second in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Greenville was chosen to finish in first place for the eighth consecutive year with 77 points and six first-place votes. Westminster received two first-place votes and 70 points to finish second.
Westminster, who has gone to back-to-back SLIAC championships, will return eight players and four starters under first-year head Coach Natalia Koryzna.
The 2017 team, who went 19-12 overall, returns the SLIAC Player of the Year Hannah Marshall and the Newcomer of the Year Elizabeth Kelley. Marshall, a senior outside hitter, recorded 410 kills, 198 digs, and 67 service aces last season. Kelley, a sophomore middle blocker, made an immediate impact on the court for the Blue Jays by hitting .420 with 236 kills.
Bridget Ringwald, the returning starting libero, also returns after averaging nearly four digs per set.
The Blue Jays are set to open the season on the road for a tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sept. 1-2. Their first opponent is Wisconsin-Plattevill.
The full SLIAC poll:
