INDIANAPOLIS – Findlay and Lake Erie were both tabbed divisional favorites at the top of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Wednesday.
 
The expanded 13-team league will feature an East and a West division for conference competition in the 2017 season.
 
Great Midwest newcomer Findlay headlines the six-team West Division while another first-year league member, Lake Erie, sits atop of the East Division that features seven schools.
 
Voting for the annual preseason coaches poll was conducted by all of the league’s head coaches. The divisional voting is reflected with overall point totals.
 
The top seed, based on overall winning percentage, will serve as this year’s Great Midwest Championship tournament host. The bracket will feature eight teams with the quarterfinals starting on Thursday, November 16.
 
For the first time, the Great Midwest will also carry nine teams into the 2017 Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover in Aurora, Ill., in competition against the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
 
Findlay (150 points) collected seven first-place votes to outdistance itself in a close race against 2016 Great Midwest champion Cedarville (143 points). Findlay’s impressive 2016 output included a 21-10 overall record and a 13-4 record in the GLIAC with an 11-2 mark at home in Croy Gymnasium.
 
The Oilers and Yellow Jackets were both NCAA Championship Midwest Region qualifiers last season and Cedarville would end up beating Findlay head-to-head in the national postseason bracket. Cedarville dominated the Blue division a year ago going 9-1 for the top seed in the conference tournament and was 27-9 overall.
 
The Yellow Jackets also received votes in the preseason coaches poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) this week.
 
Both UF and CU have some big shoes to fill at key positions and the way each program reloads its depth are storylines to follow throughout the course of the new year.
 
Cedarville and Hillsdale (133 points) received a total of three first-place votes in the West division. 2015 Great Midwest champion Trevecca Nazarene (104 points) was picked fourth in the West followed by Ohio Dominican (88 pts) while Kentucky Wesleyan was ranked sixth, respectively.
 
Lake Erie turned out to be an overwhelming favorite in the East with 11 first-place votes in the balloting. The Storm were 19-16 a year ago, but assembled a 6-1 record against incoming Great Midwest schools, including a pair of wins against Findlay and regular-season sweeps against Ohio Dominican and Walsh.
 
LEC rattled off eight straight wins in the early portion of the 2016 season, three of those against current Great Midwest members. The Storm compiled 125 points in the voting.
 
The remaining first-place votes were split between East division preseason runner-up Walsh and 2016 Great Midwest Championship runner-up Davis & Elkins. The Cavaliers are also new to the fold in the league this season.
 
Ursuline (70 points) and Malone (67 points) each qualified for the six-team format of the G-MAC Championship last season and were picked fourth and fifth in the poll.
 
Alderson Broaddus (45 points) and Ohio Valley (30 points) will look to defy the odds after being voted sixth and seventh in the East, respectively. 

The Great Midwest volleyball season preview will be posted next Wednesday, Aug. 23, with a more in-depth look about the league's hopes and prospects for the 2017 season. 

2017 Great Midwest Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour

West Division

School	Points
1.  Findlay (7 first-place votes)	150
2.  Cedarville (3 first-place votes)	143
3.  Hillsdale (3 first-place votes)	133
4.  Trevecca Nazarene	104
5.  Ohio Dominican	88
6.  Kentucky Wesleyan	75

East Division

School	Points
1.  Lake Erie (11 first-place votes)	125
2.  Walsh (1 first-place vote)	81
3.  Davis & Elkins (1 first-place vote)	72
4.  Ursuline	70
5.  Malone	67
6.  Alderson Broaddus	45
7.  Ohio Valley	30