General | 8/21/2017 4:43:00 PM

    BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference volleyball coaches picked the rising West Liberty University program for a top four finish when the results of their annual preseason poll were released on Monday afternoon.
    Coach Kayla Fetsko's Hilltoppers, who defeated NCAA Tournament qualifier Fairmont State last fall and were one of only two MEC teams to take a set from perennial MEC and Atlantic Region champion Wheeling Jesuit, had 88 points to check in at No. 4 in the coaches' balloting.
    Nationally-ranked Wheeling Jesuit, which has never lost an MEC match since the league's founding, was once again a unanimous choice to defend its title with 11 first-place votes and 121 points. Fairmont State, coming off an NCAA Tournament run as an at-large entry, collected the other first-place vote to claim the No. 2 spot with 107 points with Charleston third at 103.
    Urbana rounded out the top five with 84 points with Notre Dame (61) sixth and Concord (58) seventh. UVa-Wise (45), Shepherd (44), West Virginia Wesleyan (39), West Virginia State (31) and Glenville State (11) rounded out the list.
    The West Liberty women, with five All-MEC selections and a dozen letterwinners back from last year's 23-win squad, open the 2017 season on Sept. 1-2 when they compete in the LIU-Post (N.Y.) Invitational.