August 18, 2010

Devils Picked Fifth in 2010 CACC Pre-Season Volleyball Poll

New Haven, Conn.(8-18-10) - The University of the Sciences women's volleyball team has been picked to finish fifth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Southern Division in the conference's pre-season volleyball poll which was released today. The league's 14 head coaches conducted the voting.

In this year's poll, Caldwell College and Georgian Court University were selected to win their respective divisions. The two teams each picked up 13 of the 14 first place votes to earn the top spot in their respective divisions. In the South Division, four-time defending CACC Tournament Champion Georgian Court tallied 97 points while Philadelphia University picked up the other first place vote to finish second in the poll with 76 points.  Holy Family University was third with 63 points, while Wilmington University accumulated 61 points. The division is rounded out by USciences (45), Goldey-Beacom College (32) and Chestnut Hill College (18).  Caldwell picked up 97 points to finish first in the north while Dominican College garnered the other first place vote and was second with 74 points. The Chargers were followed by Bloomfield College (67 points), Post University (55), Nyack College (47), Felician College (27) and Concordia College (25).

The Devils return four starters from last year's squad, led by senior middle hitters/blockers Christine Puschak (Conestoga Valley HS/Leola, Pa.) and Cady Rich (Shelton HS/Shelton, Conn.)  Rich led Sciences last season in kills (277), kills/set (3.11), and blocks (79) and was second on the team in hitting percentage. Puschak led the team in hitting percentage (.232); was second on the team in kills (267), kills/set (2.84) and blocks (49).  Christine was also tied for third on the team with 31 aces.

The Devils third returning senior is setter Sarah Hickman (Wilmington Christian School/Newark, Del.).  Hickman led the Devils with 828 assists, and led the CACC with 8.81 assists per set.  Sarah was also fourth on the team with 215 digs.  Sophomore liberoStacey Wooden (Pennsbury HS/Levittown, Pa.) led the team with 369 digs and returns for her second season of competition.
In 2009, the USP women’s volleyball team finished in fourth place in the CACC southern division, recording a 10-9 conference mark and an 10-16 overall record, ending their season with a quarterfinal playoff loss to eventual champion Georgian Court. In 2010 Sandy Butcher takes over the coaching reins, becoming the Devils 17th coach in the program's 37-year history and their fourth since 2000.
 

This year's complete poll is below:

CACC Volleyball
 2010 Preseason Coaches’ Poll

                             

                           NORTH DIVISION                                 SOUTH DIVISION

School                 2009 Records        Points        School                            2009 Record            Points

1. Caldwell (13)   21-12/16-3 CACC     97               1. Georgian Court (13)  27-10/19-0 CACC        97

2. Dominican (1)  22-10/15-4               74               2. Philadelphia (1)         32-6/17-2                    76

3. Bloomfield         9-18/9-10                67               3. Holy Family               14-22/11-8                  63

4. Post                  9-27/9-10                55               4. Wilmington               14-16/9-10                  61

5. Nyack               10-13/9-10               47               5. USciences                10-16/10-9                   45

6. Felician              4-27/3-16                27               6. Goldey-Beacom        9-22/4-16                    32        

7. Concordia          1-25/1-18                25               7. Chestnut Hill             5-25/1-18                   18

()-First Place Votes                                            ()-First Place Votes