FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2006
Contact:  Dwayne Hanberry, SCAC Associate Commissioner

AUSTIN COLLEGE ENTERS AS TOP GUN IN 2006

SUWANEE, Ga. – If the volleyball coaches’ poll is any indication, the newest member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will not take anyone by surprise in 2006.

Austin College, preparing for its first-ever season of SCAC volleyball competition, has been selected to win the conference title based on exclusive voting by the head coaches in the league.

Austin (34-3) won the 2005 American Southwest Conference title last season and advanced to the finals of the NCAA South Region before falling to top-ranked Emory University. Included in that NCAA tournament run was a 3-1 defeat of Trinity University in the region semifinals.

The 18th-ranked Kangaroos, who received seven first-place votes from the coaches, return senior setter Veronica Stephens - the two-time ASC East Division Player-of-the-Year. Stephens ranked second nationally with her average of 13.46 assists per game and was selected to the AVCA All-South Region team.

Despite having its record 75-match conference win streak snapped, Trinity finished 25-12 last season and was co-champion of the SCAC. The Tigers, who finished second in the coaches’ preseason balloting, return two AVCA all-Americans in senior outside hitter Micaeli Smith (second team) and junior right side Sara Buros (honorable mention) as well as last year’s SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year, sophomore setter Caroline Keener. Trinity’s appearance in the NCAA tournament last season was its 14th consecutive trip to the national playoffs.

Southwestern University was the coaches’ third choice in the preseason poll, coming off the program’s most successful season. The 23rd-ranked Pirates not only captured their first SCAC title since 1997 (co-champions with Trinity) and advanced to the semi-finals of the NCAA South Regionals, but the '05 SU squad produced a school-record 36 wins against just five losses.

In the first American Volleyball Coaches Association poll of the 2006 season, Austin is preseason No. 18 and Southwestern is No. 24. Trinity received the third-most votes of schools outside of the Top 25.