GREENWOOD, Ind. – Defending league tournament champion Trevecca Nazarene was named a close favorite following the release of the 2016 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Thursday.
 
Voting for the annual poll was conducted among the league’s eight head coaches.
 
Trevecca Nazarene was the G-MAC’s first NCAA Championship Midwest Regional qualifier a year ago after winning the conference tournament as a No. 2 seed.
 
Under the leadership of veteran head coach Jayme Crowley, Trevecca Nazarene comes armed with an abundance of impactful talent, including co-Player of the Year Kaitlyn Atkinson, after finishing the previous fall with a 20-12 overall record.
 
The Trojans received five of the eight first-place votes and totaled 46 points to lead all schools.
 
The separation between first and second was razor thin by one point as 2015 league runner-up Cedarville racked up three first-place votes and 45 points.
 
Last year, the Yellow Jackets of Cedarville were a divisional winner along with Alderson Broaddus, which heads into the season with a new coach. The Battlers gained a third-place preseason billing with 29 points.
 
Looking to make a splash in its first year as a full G-MAC member institution is Malone. The Pioneers were picked fourth by the coaches and tallied 28 points.
 
G-MAC Championship qualifiers Kentucky Wesleyan (26 points), Ursuline (24 points) and Davis & Elkins (16 points), were slotted at fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Ohio Valley will be looking to return to the postseason after a one-year absence and was picked eighth in the preseason poll.
 
The conference will be publishing comprehensive season previews for each institution leading up to the start of the new year. The season previews will include interviews with coaches/student-athletes.
 
The schedule for releasing G-MAC volleyball season previews is as follows:
 
Malone – Monday, Aug. 15
Ohio Valley – Monday, Aug. 15
Kentucky Wesleyan – Tuesday, Aug. 16
Ursuline – Tuesday, Aug. 16
Davis & Elkins – Wednesday, Aug. 17
Alderson Broaddus – Wednesday, Aug. 17
Cedarville – Thursday, Aug. 18
Trevecca Nazarene – Friday, Aug. 19

2016 G-MAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
 

School	Points
1.  Trevecca Nazarene (5 first-place votes)	46
2.  Cedarville (3 first-place votes)	45
3.  Alderson Broaddus	37
4.  Malone	28
5.  Kentucky Wesleyan	26
6.  Ursuline	24
7.  Davis & Elkins	16
8.  Ohio Valley	10