Royals Voted to Finish 9th in Preseason Poll

KNOXVILLE, Tn- The Royals have been picked to finish 9th in the 2023 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), according to the AAC Women's Volleyball Coaches' Poll released Monday.

The poll was voted on by the women's volleyball coaches of the AAC.

CIU received 11 of the 14 first-place votes to claim the top spot with 199 voting points. Bryan collected two first-place votes to land second with 191 voting points.

Last season, CIU and Bryan finished first and second, respectively, in the regular season with CIU winning the AAC Tournament championship.

Reinhardt, Bluefield, and Milligan round out the top five with Reinhardt receiving the only other first-place vote.

The top 10 teams in the regular season advance to the AAC Tournament, which is set for Nov. 9-11 in Kingsport, Tenn.

The Royals will look to live up to or surpass their ranking, as they push for a second consecutive postseason berth.

Here is the entire poll:

AAC Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll
School (First-Place Vote) - Total Voting Points
1. Columbia International (11) - 199
2. Bryan (2) - 191
3. Reinhardt (1) - 184
4. Bluefield - 158
5. Milligan - 155
6. Brenau - 137
7. Truett McConnell - 134
8. Union - 111
9. Johnson - 96
10. St. Andrews - 81
11. Montreat - 74
12. Kentucky Christian - 57
13. Pikeville - 49
14. Tennessee Wesleyan - 40
15. Columbia - 14