August 21, 2018

Johnson named to All-Conference second team, Lions selected seventh

Junior Sally Anne Johnson was named to the 2018 Preseason All-Conference second team while the Mars Hill volleyball team was selected seventh in the league's preseason poll, as announced Tuesday morning.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) - For the 13th consecutive year, Wingate is tabbed to win the South Atlantic Conference with 10 first-place votes and 110 points, according to the 2018 SAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Going 27-4 (18-2 SAC), the Bulldogs finished second in the regular season standings and dropped their SAC Tournament semifinal matchup. Advancing on, they were the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, ending their season in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship match against Flagler College.

Anderson, the 2017 regular season champions, is picked to finish second. The Trojans garnered the remaining first-place vote and 93 total points. The Trojans capped off the 2017 with a record of 28-5 overall and 19-1 in conference play, advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Queens followed closely with 92 points to take the No. 3 spot in the coaches' poll. Finishing the 2017 season with a 23-8 (14-6 SAC) record, the Royals won the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Southeast Regional.

At No. 4 with 87 points was Carson-Newman. The Eagles were the SAC Tournament runner-up in 2017 and earned a berth into the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Lincoln Memorial checked in at No. 5, earning 63 points, while Tusculum earned the No. 6 spot with 61 points and Mars Hill had 56 points at No. 7.

Lenoir-Rhyne was picked to finish eighth with 53 points, followed by Coker at No. 9 with 43 points and Catawba at No. 10 with 33 points. Newberry closed out the poll with 24 points at No. 11.

Accompanying the release of the preseason poll was the announcement of the 2018 SAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference teams. Selected by the league's media relations directors, the preseason all-conference teams features four players from Wingate, three from Anderson and Carson-Newman, two players from Queens and a single player from Coker, Mars Hill, Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill and Tusculum.

The 2018 SAC Women's Volleyball season will commence on August 24, with five teams opening their seasons, and the remaining six teams get underway on August 25.

2018 SAC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

Rank	School	Total
1.	Wingate (10)	110
2.	Anderson (1)	93
3.	Queens	92
4.	Carson-Newman	87
5.	Lincoln Memorial	63
6.	Tusculum	61
7.	Mars Hill	56
8.	Lenoir-Rhyne	53
9.	Coker	43
10.	Catawba	33
11.	Newberry	24