BOSTON – UAlbany, the 2019 conference champion, was tabbed the Spring 2021 America East volleyball preseason favorite as the league’s preseason coaches’ poll was unveiled Wednesday afternoon.
Nine points separate the top four teams with UAlbany receiving four of a possible six first-place votes and points 33 points. Hartford earned four first-place tallies while Stony Brook, the 2018 #AEVB champion, finished just one point behind.
Here is the full poll:
2021 America East Women’s Volleyball Preseason Poll
No. School Points (1st Place Votes)
1. UAlbany 33 (4)
2. Hartford 28 (3)
3. Stony Brook 27
4. New Hampshire 24
5. UMBC 17
6. Binghamton 10
7. NJIT 8
2019 Defensive Specialist of the Year Kiani Kerstetter (Stony Brook) and Rookie of the Year Maddie Lindsay (Hartford) headline the group of returnees. Also back is First Team All-Conference member Abby Nash from Hartford.
This season will feature seven teams as NJIT comes into the fold. The Seawolves will be the first team in action as they kick off their season Feb. 14 at St. John’s. Conference play is scheduled to begin February 27th as teams are scheduled to play a double round robin schedule totaling 12 league matches over five weeks of competition. Programs will play a combination of same day doubleheaders, back-to-back matches and some instances of multi-team pods at the same site. Due to COVID-19 schedules are subject to change. Full 2021 #AEVB Schedule
The top two teams in the conference standings will qualify for the America East Championship Match, which takes place Friday, April 2 or Saturday, April 3 at the No. 1 seed. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Fans will once again be able to watch the majority of #AEVB this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the brand new America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
Follow the @AEDigitalNet Twitter account to stay up-to-date on America East women’s lacrosse news all season long and use #AEVB to join the conversation.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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