CMS Volleyball Picked No. 5 in AVCA Division III Preseason Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team, two years removed from the program's first-ever national championship, earned the No. 5 spot in the preseason national Division III coaches poll, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today.

The Athenas received 1364 points to place fifth in the poll, including three first-place votes. Defending national champion Emory was picked first with 1650 points (52 first-place votes), followed by Calvin (1613), Juniata (1500) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1417). 

CMS enters the new season optimistic that it can challenge for the program's second national title in the last three years. The Athenas captured the NCAA championship in 2017 with a 3-0 win over Wittenberg (picked sixth in the 2019 preseason poll), and graduated eight seniors off that squad. A year ago, CMS fielded a young team that had no seniors on the roster but continued performing at a high level, earning a No. 3 ranking in the nation in midseason, after a strong non-conference performance that included a win over Emory. The team finished with a 27-4 record and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Wisconsin-Eau Claire 3-1.

The Athenas come into the 2019 campaign with all of their starters returning from a year ago, four of whom were named the AVCA All-West Region team. Senior first-team All-American Phoebe Madsen was named the AVCA West Region Player of the Year after serving as the team's primary setter last year, while also sliding to a hitting position at times after the Athenas suffered several injuries. Senior hitter Amanda Walker, who also earned All-America honors last year (third team), is returning for her final season after tallying over 400 kills as a junior (407), the third-highest single-season total in program history.  

Junior middle hitter Melanie Moore joined Madsen and Walker on the All-SCIAC first team after hitting .326 last season, the fourth-highest single-season hitting percentage in program history. Moore also set the CMS record with a .355 percentage on the national championship team in 2017 and is on pace (.337) to shatter the career record of .303, held by Tonya Icenogle (2000-02). Junior middle hitter Regan Dinovitz, who had 108 blocks as a fresman (No. 8 in CMS history) before missing the first half of last season with an illness, is also returning to a starting role in the middle for the third straight year. 

Senior libero Sarah Tritschler earned a spot on the AVCA All-West Region squad after tallying 612 digs last year, the third-highest total in program annals. Junior Lucila Grinspan and sophomore Jackie Jones emerged with starting roles at the hitting positions in 2018 and give CMS all seven of its starters returning heading into the new campaign. A total of 15 players return in all from a year ago, while six newcomers join the program to give the Athenas one of the deepest rosters they have ever had as they pursue their second national title. 

CMS opens its season on August 30-31 when it co-hosts the annual Pacific Coast Classic, facing Carroll and Dallas on Friday, Aug. 30 and Augsburg and St. Olaf on Saturday, Aug. 31 at Roberts Pavilion. 

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Pacific Lutheran 127; Carthage 82; Carnegie-Mellon 81; DePauw 42; Birmingham Southern 31; Texas-Dallas 27; Cal Lutheran 23; Wisconsin-Stevens Point 23; Susquehanna 19; Johns Hopkins 18; RIT 18; Northwestern (Minn.) 17; Amherst 13; MIT 11; Puget Sound 11; St. Thomas (Minn.) 11; Mount Union 10; Muskingum 10; Tufts 8; Case Western 6; La Verne 5; Franklin & Marshall 4; SUNY New Paltz 4;

16 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 79 combined points