CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today the results American Rivers Conference Volleyball Preseason Poll (as voted on by the league's head coaches).
| 2020 (2021) American Rivers Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
School (1st place votes) |
Points |
2019 Record |
| 1. |
Dubuque (6) |
62 |
22-11, 5-3 A-R-C (Conference Tournament Champions) |
| 2. |
Wartburg (3) |
58 |
24-8, 8-0 A-R-C (Regular Season Champions) |
| 3. |
Coe |
46 |
15-18, 5-3 A-R-C |
| 4. |
Nebraska Wesleyan |
42 |
20-8, 5-3 A-R-C |
| 5. |
Loras |
34 |
19-9, 6-2 A-R-C |
| 6. |
Buena Vista |
27 |
11-18, 3-5 A-R-C |
| 7. |
Central |
23 |
17-13, 2-6 A-R-C |
| 8. |
Luther |
21 |
7-22, 2-6 A-R-C |
| 9. |
Simpson |
11 |
8-19, 0-8 A-R-C |
Dubuque is the coaches' choice to win the 2020 (Spring 2021) American Rivers Conference Volleyball title. The Spartans were chosen first on six ballots (coaches do not vote on their own team) and earned 62 points to take the No. 1 ranking. A season ago, Dubuque finished second in the regular season standings and claimed the 2019 A-R-C tournament title to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Wartburg, the conference's regular season champion a year ago, garnered three first place votes and 58 total points to rank second in the poll. Coe edged out Nebraska Wesleyan for the third spot with 46 points to the Prairie Wolves 42. Loras, with 34 points has been picked to finish fifth and sixth place goes to Buena Vista with 27 points. Central, Luther, and Simpson finished seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.
American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Top 25 Polls: The AVCA will not release polls for the 2020-21 academic year since the fall regular season was cancelled.
New Coaches:
- Kristy Duncan, Loras - During her time as the head coach for Illinois College, Duncan led the team to back-to-back conference tournaments while also claiming back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2018-19 which was the first back-to-back 20-win seasons for Illinois College since 1995-96. The Lady Blues made an appearance in the Midwest Conference (MWC) tournament in 2018, the program's first time since 2006, and had the highest team winning percentage since 1996. Illinois College also made the conference tournament in 2019 as the No. 3 seed and posted the school's best conference record since 2003. Duncan received the Midwest Conference Coach of the Year award in 2019 for her great achievements as the head coach of the Lady Blues.
- Kekailoa Palea, Simpson - The Kent, Washington native joins Simpson after spending the last four years serving as the player development director and head coach for the 15-18-under team at Iowa Powerplex in Waukee, Iowa. Prior to that, Palea was the associate director and 15-18-under coach for Club Iowa Juniors. From 2010-12, Palea held the role of an assistant coach for the University of Northern Iowa. During that span under head coach Bobbi Petersen, the Panthers went 63-5 to secure two NCAA Tournament slots and reached the second round in 2011. Prior to his arrival in Waterloo, Palea was the men's and women's head JV coach at Graceland University from 2006-10.
The Schedule: Due to NCAA Board of Governors announcement on August 11, 2020, which put new mandates in its “Resocialization of Collegiate Sport” plan, the most concerning of which was the requirement to test frequently with short windows for test results in several sports, the American Rivers Conference Presidents Council postponed four sports from the fall to the spring semester. Those sports are football, women’s and men’s soccer, and volleyball.
Volleyball will be the first fall-to-spring sport to take the court, with the season's first serve to fly over the net Friday, February 19. A full conference round-robin is planned, with member institutions having discretion around non-conference competition.
Friday, February 19 sees Loras College visiting Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Neb. to kickoff the season and conference play.
The remaining seven conference squads open up their seasons on either Saturday, February 20 or Sunday, February 21. Saturday, February 20 sees two conference matches as Simpson College travels to Dubuque to square off with the University of Dubuque, and Luther College heads to Storm Lake to clash with Buena Vista University. Wartburg starts their season with a non-conference game against Cornell in Mount Vernon, Iowa. On Sunday, February 21 Central College heads to Cedar Rapids to square off with Coe College.
The Wartburg College Knights begin their conference slate on Tuesday, February 23 inside Levick Arena when they host the Kohawks of Coe.
| 1st |
|
University of Dubuque
Head Coach: April Elsbernd (12th season, 177-193)
2019 Record: 22-11, 5-3 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 3rd (Conference Tournament Champions)
Returning All-Conference: Grace Hintze (So., 2019 First Team), Darby Hawtrey (Jr., 2019 Second Team), Kate Messino (Jr., 2019 Second Team)
Returning Starters: 4
Starters Lost: 3
April Elsbernd - “The Spartans are extremely excited to compete this spring. Our goals are to take one point at a time and celebrate our seniors. The team with the most resilient mindset will likely determine who wins the A-R-C, and it will be exciting to see who comes out on top." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Darby Hawtrey - Opp. (Jr.) |
210-kills // 3.28-kills/set // 14-blocks |
| Grace Hintze - OH (So.) |
110-sets played // 350-kills // 26-blocks |
| Kate Messino - S (Jr.) |
124-sets played // 1,111-assists // 8.96-assists/set // 392-digs // 3.16-digs/set |
| Issy Cleary - OH (Sr.) |
13-sets played // .77-kills/set |
| Shauna McAleer - MH (Sr.) |
126-sets played // 175-kills // 1.39-kills/set // 61-blocks // .48-blocks/set |
| Kendra Witte - OH (Sr.) |
46-sets played // 17-kills |
| 2nd |
|
Wartburg College
Co-Head Coach: Jennifer Walker (23rd season, 508-259) & Doug Frazell (8th season, 169-61)
2019 Record: 24-8, 8-0 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 1st (Regular Season Champion)
Returning All-Conference: Katie Foster (Sr., MVP & Defensive Player of the Year), Kylie Bildstein (Sr., 2019 First Team), Jayme Willemssen (Jr., 2019 First Team)
Returning Starters: 5
Starters Lost: 3
Doug Frazell - “We are excited to get out on the court and begin competing against other A-R-C Volleyball teams. As with any season we are grateful to have the opportunity to put the uniforms on and represent Wartburg College, but having experienced what we all have in the past year, our gratitude is even more palpable as we look to start play. Coach Walker and I have enjoyed watching this year’s group work and develop in practice and can’t wait to see what that looks like on the court.” |
| Players to Watch:*Returning Players Only |
| Katie Foster - L (Sr.) |
125-sets played // 757-digs // 6.06-digs/set // 117-assists // 55-aces |
| Kylie Bildstein - MB (Sr.) |
105-sets played // 282-kills // 2.69-kills/set // 116-blocks |
| Jayme Willemssen - RS (Jr.) |
125-sets played // 324-kills // 58-blocks |
| Claire March - S (Jr.) |
122-sets played // 647-assists // 51-aces |
| Zaiah Quirk - OH (Jr.) |
109-sets played // 226-kills // 185-digs |
| Natalie Clayberg - OH (So.) |
124-sets played // 253-kills // 2.04-kills/set // 36-aces // 248-digs |
| Sydney Rottinghaus - S (Sr.) |
125-sets played // 529-assists // 4.23-assists/set // 371-digs // 27-aces |
| Lindsey Spolidoro - DS/L (So.) |
148-digs // 1/76-digs/set // 16-aces |
| 3rd |
|
Coe College
Head Coach: DeAnn (Woodin) Akins (15th season, 286-189)
2019 Record: 15-18, 5-3 A-R-C
2019 Finish: t-3rd
Returning All-Conference: Elli Teeple (Jr., 2019 First Team), Kate Tidman (So., 2019 First Team), Morgan Kluesner (Sr., 2019 Second Team), Madi Parson (So., 2019 Second Team)
Returning Starters: 6
Starters Lost: 1
DeAnn (Woodin) Akins - “We are so excited to finally get back to competing against other teams in our conference! Despite the ever-changing environment, our women have remained upbeat and have worked hard through it all. Our newcomers have adjusted well, and our returners have been great leaders for them. We are looking forward to the opportunities ahead!" |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Elli Teeple - S (Jr.) |
131-sets played // 1,331-assists // 10.16-assists/set // 38-aces // 359-digs // 2.74-digs/set |
| Morgan Kluesner - OH (Sr.) |
131-sets played // 353-kills // 2.69-kills/set // 384-digs // 2.93-digs/set |
| Kate Tidman - OH (So.) |
131-sets played // 493-kills / 3.76-kills/set // 31-aces |
| Madi Parson - OH (So.) |
131-sets played // 431-kills // 3.82-kills/set // 46-aces |
| 4th |
|
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Head Coach: Rayna Cain (9th season, 119-104)
2019 Record: 20-8, 5-3 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 4th
Returning All-Conference: None
Returning Starters: 4
Starters Lost: 4
Rayna Cain - "The Prairie Wolves are eager to start playing conference competition! As always, the A-R-C is a very competitive conference and we are excited to get the chance to battle with each of them this spring." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Cassidy Plooster - S (Jr.) |
182-digs // 2.25-digs/set // 10-aces |
| Kelsie Stovall - L (Sr.) |
109-sets played // 46-aces // 618-digs // 5.67-digs/set |
| Nyah Chambers - MH (So.) |
109-sets played // 137-kills // 63-blocks // .58-blocks/set |
| 5th |
|
Loras College
Head Coach: Kristy Duncan (1st season)
2019 Record: 19-9, 6-2 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 2nd
Returning All-Conference: Krystal Tranel (Jr., 2019 First Team), Jackie Alberto (Sr., 2019 First Team)
Returning Starters: 3
Starters Lost: 5
Kristy Duncan - “There will be a lot of new faces on the court this spring for the Duhawks, but we are eager for the opportunity to compete. We are looking forward to a competitive conference season and are excited to gain valuable on-court experience as we work to grow together as a team." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Krystal Tranel - L/DS (Jr.) |
109-sets played // 536-digs // 39-aces |
| Jackie Alberto - OH (Sr.) |
108-sets played // 201-kills // 92-blocks |
| Moira Mixan - DS (Jr.) |
109-sets played // 53-aces // 263-digs // 2.41-digs/set |
| Talia McAtee - DS (So.) |
105-sets played // 79-digs |
| 6th |
|
Buena Vista University
Head Coach: Aubrey Havlichek (3rd season, 24-30)
2019 Record: 11-18, 3-5 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 6th
Returning All-Conference: Sydney McLaren (Jr., 2019 First Team)
Returning Starters: 5
Starters Lost: 1
Aubrey Havlichek - “This spring will be a great test to put into action all the things we've been working on and really focus on our execution and response. I'm excited for our freshman class to get their first taste of college volleyball, and for the opportunity for us all to just get back and compete!" |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Sydney McLaren - OH (Jr.) |
100-sets played // 332-kills // 3.32-kills/set // 23-aces // 302-digs // 3.02-digs/set |
| Taylor Caves - MB (So.) |
111-sets played // 126-kills // 34-blocks |
| Taylor Wedemeyer - S (So.) |
105-sets played // 101-kills // 889-assists // 36-aces // 300-digs |
| 7th |
|
Central College
Head Coach: Jeanne Czipri (4th season, 38-56)
2019 Record: 17-13, 2-6 A-R-C
2019 Finish: t-7th
Returning All-Conference: Krissa Larson (Jr., 2019 Honorable Mention)
Returning Starters: 4
Starters Lost: 3
Jeanne Czipri - “We are incredibly grateful to be able to play this spring and appreciate all the work and time that the conference and administrators have contributed to create these opportunities this year. This will be a fun and challenging season as our group works to get back into the groove of playing the game after so much time off and experiments with lineups to gain experience and preparation for Fall 2021. We are just so eager to play the game we love against the great comepition of the A-R-C." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Krissa Larson - OH (Jr.) |
107-sets played // 261-kills // 2.54-kills/set // 19-blocks |
| Amanda Smith - S (So.) |
101-sets played // 522-assists // 5.17-assists/set // 31-aces // 212-digs |
| Kayleigh Fite - UH (Sr.) |
103-sets played // 144-kills // 36-aces // 159-digs // 60-blocks // .58-blocks/set |
| Landry Luhring - OH/L (Jr.) |
107-sets played // 438-digs // 38-aces |
| Ruth Hruska-Kelly - OH (Jr.) |
102-sets played // 214-kills // 171-digs // 33-blocks |
| Natalie Gaszynski - OH (So.) |
65-sets played // 130-kills // 33-aces // 167-digs |
| Samantha Worley - L (So.) |
31-sets played // 48-digs |
| 8th |
|
Luther College
Head Coach: Brittany Sisk (3rd season, 22-39)
2019 Record: 7-22, 2-6 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 8th
Returning All-Conference: None
Returning Starters: 1
Starters Lost: 3
Brittany Sisk - "I have been so incredibly proud of how our team has handled the adversity throughout this year. They have faced every new challenge determined to maintain their growth mindset. As far as starting lineups go, the majority will be new to their roles. I truly cannot wait to watch them continue to learn, grow, and have the opportunity to compete in our tough conference." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Anna Jenewein - DS (Jr.) |
78-sets played // 56-assists // 310-digs // 3.97-digs/set |
| Jessica Callahan - S/Opp. (Sr.) |
28-sets played // 39-kills |
| Annie Rhomberg - OH (So.) |
8-sets played // 4-kills // 2-digs |
| 9th |
|
Simpson College
Head Coach: Kekailoa Palea (1st season)
2019 Record: 8-19, 0-8 A-R-C
2019 Finish: 9th
Returning All-Conference: None.
Returning Starters: 5
Starters Lost: 3
Kekailoa Palea - "We know every match is going to be a battle for us. If we want to have success we have to trust the process and in each other." |
| Players to Watch: *Returning Players Only |
| Kamryn Juni - OH (Sr.) |
59-sets played // 97-kills // 8-blocks |
| Megan LeMay - M (Jr.) |
74-sets played // 38-blocks |
| Madison Fleer - M/RS (Sr.) |
68-sets played // 29-blocks |
| Niya Harris - OH (Jr.) |
94-sets played // 156-digs // 36-blocks |
| Arianna Martinez - Libero (Sr.) |
102-sets played // 432-digs // 4.24-digs/set |
