New Haven Volleyball Projected to Three-Peat in 2010

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South Easton, Mass. – The University of New Haven is favored to three-peat as Northeast-10 Conference regular season champions as voted upon by the conference's head coaches. The Chargers received 14 first-place votes and a total of 224 points in this year's preseason coaches' poll.

New Haven (25-6, 15-0 NE-10) won its second straight Northeast-10 Regular Season Title last year after finishing a perfect 15-0 in conference play. In 2008, the Chargers first year in the conference, they finished 14-0 to claim the teams first-ever title.

Adelphi University (27-10, 14-1 NE-10) received one first-place vote and tallied 202 points and is predicted to finish second this year just ahead of Bentley University (18-13, 11-4 NE-10). The Falcons received the final first-place vote and 192 points.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell (22-10, 11-4 NE-10) is predicted to finish fourth after receiving 180 points, while American International College (23-10, 9-6 NE-10) rounds out the top five with 154 points.

Pace University (17-12, 9-6 NE-10) collected 148 points in this year's poll as the Setters edged out Merrimack College (21-11, 8-7 NE-10) for sixth place as the Warriors tallied 142 points. Le Moyne College (17-10, 9-6 NE-10) received 126 points and is picked to finish eighth in what would be the final post-season spot in the regular season standings. The Dolphins are followed by Southern Connecticut State University (26-10, 9-6 NE-10) with 119 points and Stonehill College (15-11, 9-6 NE-10) with 117 points to round out the top ten.

In order, the rest of the poll is as follows, the College of Saint Rose (15-14, 5-10 NE-10) with 91 points, Franklin Pierce University (8-22, 3-12 NE-10) with 66 points, Southern New Hampshire University (10-14, 4-11 NE-10) with 63 points, Saint Michael's College (8-19, 2-13 NE-10) with 44 points, Assumption College (2-20, 1-14 NE-10) with 30 points and Saint Anselm College (5-19, 1-14 NE-10) with 22 points round out spots 11 through 16 respectively.

Teams begin to compete for the conference championship as well as a chance to play for a national championship beginning on Sept. 2 with a couple of non-conference matches slated. The first NE-10 contest is currently scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7 with Bentley traveling to Assumption for a 7 p.m. match.

The Northeast-10 Championship is set to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 9 with quarterfinal action. The championship continues on Friday, Nov. 12 with the semifinals and will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 13 with the championship final. The quarterfinals will be hosted by the higher seeds, while the semifinals and final will be hosted at one site by the higher remaining seed.

For more information on the upcoming season and for continuous coverage all season long visit the Northeast-10 Conference website at www.northeast10.org (.)

With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

- NE-10 -

2010 Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll

1. New Haven (14) - 224
2. Adelphi (1) - 202
3. Bentley (1) - 192
4. UMass Lowell - 180
5. American Int'l - 154
6. Pace - 148
7. Merrimack - 142
8. Le Moyne - 126
9. So. Connecticut - 119
10. Stonehill - 117
11. Saint Rose - 91
12. Franklin Pierce - 66
13. So. New Hampshire - 63
14. Saint Michael's - 44
15. Assumption - 30
16. Saint Anselm - 22

() First Place Votes