Little East Conference preseason polls released in field hockey and volleyball
- The Little East Conference pre-season coaches' polls have been announced in field hockey and women's volleyball, and Plymouth State University is picked to finish in the top two in both races. The votes were cast by the conference's head coaches, and the polls were released Tuesday by LEC Commissioner William M. Moore.
The Panther field hockey team, which finished in second place the past two seasons after winning three straight LEC titles from 2000-02, received three first-place votes in this year's balloting and finished runner-up with 135 points. Defending champion Keene State got eight top votes and was predicted to repeat, earning 138 points. Worcester State received the other first-place vote and finished third in the poll with 104 points, and Westfield State was fourth (95). There are now 12 teams competing for the LEC field hockey title, with the addition of Western Connecticut.
The Panther women's volleyball team, which captured its first LEC championship last season, received six of the eight first-place votes this fall and earned the top spot with 62 points. Eastern Connecticut got one first-place vote and finished second in the balloting with 52 points, while Western Connecticut received the other top vote and finished tied for third with Rhode Island College. Those top four schools finished in a four-way tie for first in last year's regular season race before PSU emerged as champions by winning the LEC Tournament.
The LEC field hockey and volleyball tournaments are scheduled for the first week in November, with the conference champions receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The complete Little East Conference field hockey and volleyball preseason poll results are listed below:
2005 LEC Field Hockey Pre-Season
Poll
1. Keene State
(8)
138
2. Plymouth
State
(3)
135
3. Worcester State
(1)
104
4. Westfield
State
95
5. Fitchburg
State
93
6. Framingham State
91
7. Eastern
Connecticut
77
8. Southern
Maine
71
9. Bridgewater
State
42
10. Salem
State
41
11.
UMass-Dartmouth
31
12. Western
Connecticut
18
(first-place votes in parentheses)
2005 LEC Volleyball Pre-Season
Poll
1. Plymouth State
(6)
62
2. Eastern Connecticut
(1) 52
T-3. Western Connecticut
(1) 46
T-3. Rhode Island
College
46
5. UMass
Dartmouth
29
6. Keene
State
28
7. Southern Maine
14
8. UMass
Boston
11
(first-place votes in parentheses)
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