NSIC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll release
The Wayne State College volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the 2011 Northern Sun Conference Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll released Thursday morning by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota. The Wildcats received a total of 142 points in voting conducted by league head coaches while senior outside hitter Tali Fredrickson was selected as Wayne State's Player to Watch in the NSIC this season.
Four-time defending NCAA Division II national champion Concordia-St. Paul was the unanimous pick (coaches can not vote for their own team) to win the NSIC volleyball title with 13 first place votes and 169 points followed by Southwest Minnesota State in second with 146 points and one first-place vote. Minnesota Duluth garnered one more point than Wayne State, 143-142, for third place while Minnesota State was fifth at 120 points. Augustana College was sixth with 106 points followed by MSU Moorhead (93) with St. Cloud State and Winona State tied for eighth with 81 points. Northern State and Upper Iowa each received 55 points to tie for 10th, Bemidji State was 12th with 41 points while the University of Mary and Minnesota, Crookston followed with 21 points each.
Wayne State's Player to Watch in the NSIC this season is Fredrickson, a graduate of Central Catholic High School in Grand Island. The 5-8 senior had 14 double-doubles last season, averaging 3.00 kills and 3.73 digs per set to earn NSIC honorable mention All-Conference honors for a second straight season. She enters her senior season with 898 career kills and 1,135 career digs.
The Wildcats finished the 2010 season with a 26-4 record, advancing to the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the sixth straight season. WSC ended 2010 ranked 9th in NCAA Division II, the highest ever ranking for a Wildcat volleyball program to end the season. The Wildcats open the 2011 season with four matches on September 2-3 at the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament in Minnesota.
