College Volleyball News – Guilford Picked Seventh in ODAC Preseason Poll

FOREST, Va. – Guilford College’s volleyball team was picked seventh in the preseason Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Coaches’ Poll released Wednesday. The Quakers are just two points away from Roanoke College in the sixth spot with 83 points in the 13-team rankings.

Washington and Lee University, the 2017 ODAC Tournament runner-up, edged three-time defending league champion Randolph-Macon College for first place by a single point. The Generals claimed seven first-place votes and 139 points, one tally in front of the Yellow Jackets, who had six top nods and 138 markers. Virginia Wesleyan University snuck past Bridgewater College for third place.

Coach Emily Gann’s Quakers return 12 letter winners from last year’s 12-11 unit that went 5-6 in the league and reached the ODAC Tournament for the second straight season. Guilford returns a pair of 2017 Third Team All-ODAC selections in juniors Tina Eucker (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) and Christian Ritter (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph). Eucker, a two-year starting setter, led the ODAC with a school-record 9.65 assists per game in 2017, which ranked 47th in NCAA Division III. She also ranked fourth in the league with a team-high 0.48 service per set and had the school’s ninth-best serve percentage (.968) in school history. Ritter, a two-year starter who has played both outside hitter and libero in her tenure, stood fifth in the league with 39 aces and seventh with 0.47 aces per set. She also led the Quakers in kills (209), digs (310), and points (251.5).

Gann’s club opens its 27-match schedule August 31-September 1 at the Averett University Cougar Classic in Danville, Virginia. The Quakers’ first home match is September 5 versus Methodist University in the Ragan-Brown Field House. Guilford starts league play September 12 versus visiting Hollins University. The eight-team ODAC Tournament begins October 31 and concludes November 3.

2018 ODAC Volleyball Coaches’ Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Washington and Lee (7) 139
2. Randolph-Macon (6) 138 points
3. Virginia Wesleyan 116
4. Bridgewater, 112
5. Lynchburg 100
6. Roanoke 85
7. Guilford 83
8. Eastern Mennonite 60
9. Randolph 50
10. Shenandoah 48
11. Emory & Henry 38
12. Ferrum 33
12. Hollins 12