Coe Volleyball Chosen as Favorite in A-R-C Preseason Coaches' Poll

8/22/2024 11:55:00 AM

By: Ali Wilson, A-R-C Assistant Commissioner

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The two-time defending American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) volleyball tournament champions were chosen as the favorite again this season, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Read below about the Coe College Kohawks and the entire A-R-C as we prepare for the first set of the season. 

2024 American Rivers Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Rank

School (1st place votes)

Points

1.Coe College (6)62
2.Nebraska Wesleyan University (2)55
3.University of Dubuque (1)52
4.Simpson College38
5.Wartburg College34
6.Central College31
7.Loras College27
8.Luther College14
9.Buena Vista University11

The Poll: 

Coe is the coaches’ choice to win the 2024 A-R-C volleyball title. The Kohawks, the 2023 tournament champions, were chosen first on six ballots and earned 62 points. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams. Nebraska Wesleyan claimed the second spot with 55 points and two first place votes. The Spartans garnered 52 points and one first place vote following winning the regular season title a season ago. Simpson comes in fourth with 38 points and Wartburg was picked to finish fifth with 34 points. Central sits in the No. 6 spot with 31 points. Loras, Luther, and Buena Vista finished seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively. 

New Head Coaches:

Karrah Davis - University of Dubuque

National Spotlight: 

The AVCA Preseason Top 25 poll has not been released yet. 

The Schedule: 

The 2024 season’s first serves will fly over the net on Friday, August 30, with all nine American Rivers Conference schools in non-conference action. Buena Vista will take the court at the Grinnell / Central Invitational in Pella, Iowa, where they will face Rose-Hulman, on day one of the competition. Central will match up with Bethany Lutheran and St. Scholastica on their home floor on the opening day of competition. The Kohawks travel up north to St. Paul, Minnesota for the Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational where their first contest will be against WashU. Dubuque also will head to St. Paul, Minnesota and will take on Minnesota-Morris and St. Catherine on their first day of competition of the 2024 campaign. The Duhawks will open their season in Chicago at the Rosalie Resch Invitational where they are scheduled to face Alma and UChicago on the opening day of competition. Luther heads to Wisconsin to begin their season against Illinois Insititute of Technology and Ripon at the Ripon College Classic. Nebraska Wesleyan will head to Texas to begin their season against McMurry and University of Dallas. The Storm head to the Grinnell / Central Tournament and will open their season against Saint Mary’s (Minn.) and Wisconsin-Platteville. Rounding out the nine A-R-C institutions, Wartburg heads to the Benedictine Invite and are slated to face Concordia-Texas on day one of their competitive season. 

The 2024 conference schedule begins on Tuesday, October 1 with Wartburg hosting Buena Vista and Luther heading to Coe. Four other schools will begin conference play Wednesday, October 2 with Simpson traveling to Nebraska Wesleyan and Dubuque hosting Loras in the crosstown rival game. Central tips off their conference slate on Friday, October 4 when they host Luther. The American Rivers Conference season is an eight-game round-robin schedule finishing on Wednesday, November 6. 

On the Line: 

At the conclusion of the regular season conference schedule, the top six teams move onto the 2024 conference tournament. The tournament begins on Tuesday, November 12 with the 4/5 seeds and the 3/6 seeds meeting at the higher seeded home court. On Thursday, November 14, the winner of the 4/5 opening round game will travel to the No. 1 seed, while the 3/6 winner will make the trip to the No. 2 seed. The championship match will be held at the home venue of the highest seeded team remaining on Saturday, November 16. The winner of the 2024 American Rivers Conference Tournament will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. 

Preseason No. 1 | Coe College Kohawks

Head coach DeAnn Akins is entering her 19th season as the head coach of the Kohawks program. She has compiled a 365-216 overall record during her tenure. In 2023, Coe finished third following the regular season after compiling a 6-2 league record. The Kohawks ran through the conference tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coe finished the season with a 21-12 overall record. 

The Kohawks will return a few familiar faces to the court this upcoming season returning Gracie Urbatsch and Maddy Maahs, both who earned all-conference honors for their efforts during the 2023 season. Coe will miss all-conference performers Madi Parson and Grace Lueken on the court this season. Akins noted her returning players to watch as Urbatsch, Maahs, Kelsey Hansel, Maggie Furlong, and Maddie Harris. 

We are looking forward to another competitive season, both within the A-R-C and throughout our non-conference schedule. We are excited for our returners' leadership and experience, as well as our newcomers' athleticism and enthusiasm to contribute and make us better.
DeAnn Akins, Coe College Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 2 Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves 

The Prairie Wolves continue to make noise in the conference standings behind head coach Rayna Cain, who is entering her 13th season guiding the volleyball program. Cain has compiled a 173-142 overall record. Nebraska Wesleyan finished regular season conference runner-ups during the 2023 season after posting a 7-1 league record. They finished the season with a 21-8 overall record. 

Although losing all-conference performers Nyah Chambers and Jaclyn Riedl, the P-Wolves welcome back all-conference players Addie Thomas, Elecea Saathoff, and Molly Ramirez. Thomas was named the A-R-C Most Valuable Player in 2023. Cain remarked her returning players to watch this upcoming season were Thomas, Saathoff, and Ramirez. 

We are returning several strong and experienced athletes that have played major roles in the success of our program. With the addition of a talented incoming class, the Prairie Wolves have high expectations for the season. Our goal will be to focus on our training and lean on the team’s GRIT throughout a tough conference and non-conference schedule. The team is eager to get started and ready for all the challenges which will make for a competitive and exciting year.
Rayna Cain, Nebraska Wesleyan University Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 3 | University of Dubuque Spartans 

Although entering her first season as the head coach of the Spartans, Karrah Davis knows this Dubuque volleyball program better than anyone else right now. She takes on a major role as the head coach following a regular season championship for the first time since 1995. The Spartans finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 22-9 and 8-0 league record. 

Emma Powell is returning for her fifth-year for the Spartans. Powell earned all-conference honors last season with Payton Uptagraft. Dubuque lost Ashlee Adler and Katie Wright as 2023 all-conference honorees. Davis listed her returning players to watch as Powell, Delaney Dietz, Uptagraft, Ashlyn McGinnis, and Alexis Kammerer. 

The Spartans are looking forward to another exciting year of competing in the A-R-C. We have a very motivated group of returners who will do a great job of leading our incoming class. We are excited about the level of competition in our gym.
Karrah Davis, University of Dubuque Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 4 | Simpson College Storm

Kekailoa Palea is entering his fifth season spearheading the Storm volleyball program that has made great strides during his tenure where he has recorded a 33-54 overall record. In 2023, Simpson finished fourth in the conference standings after posting a 4-4 A-R-C record and 10-21 overall record. 

The Storm return six starters for this upcoming season including Emily Williams and Peyton Mitchell, both whom earned all-conference honors during the 2023 season. Iman Ghalibaf is the all-conference performer who will be missed on the court this upcoming season. Palea named his returning players to watch as Williams, Mitchell, Lauren Roman, Morgan DenBeste, Jada Schmidt, and Courtney Paxton. 

From day one of taking over the Simpson volleyball program, we have seen tremendous growth in our players and program the past four seasons. Our goal is to continue to push ourselves to higher limits as our conference is always tough and we want to be at the top! We are excited for the upcoming season and we are determined to work our goals into reality.
Kekailoa Palea, Simpson College Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 5 | Wartburg College Knights

Jennifer Walker and Doug Frazell serve as co-head coaches of the Wartburg College volleyball program. Walker is entering her 26th season and has compiled a 570-291 overall record while Frazell enters his 11th season and has a 231-94 overall mark. The Knights finished in tied-sixth in the conference regular season standings a season ago, missing the conference tournament for the first time in program history. They finished with an 11-19 overall record and went 3-5 in league matches. 

Looking to bounce back from last year, the Knights return six starters including Allison Feigenbaum. Wartburg will be missing all-conference performer Carolien Kluesner on the court this season. Walker noted the Knights recognize Feigenbaum, Liv Anderson, Emerson Kracht, Peyton Robinson, and Sophie Sedgwick as returning players to watch this upcoming season. 

The Knights have quite a few veterans on the court in 2024. Our 2023 season was riddled with injuries, giving quite a few younger players the opportunities to get on the court and develop sooner. Because of that, we are looking forward to having more consistency in our play from the experiences our young athletes learned from last year. With our injured athletes getting healed up, we had a really solid spring season and are excited to see how our team will continue to develop throughout this fall. Our players are excited to see what a fully healthy Knights volleyball team will be able to accomplish in 2024!
Jennifer Walker, Wartburg College Co-Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 6 | Central College Dutch

Jeanne Czipri enters her eighth season leading the Dutch volleyball program. She has compiled an overall record of 89-98 during her time. During the 2023 season, Central finished the season with a 22-10 overall mark and 4-4 A-R-C record to finish fifth. 

The Dutch are highlighted by the return of Colleen Kenney, the 2023 A-R-C Defensive Player of the Year. Avery Rexroat joined Kenney on the all-conference team last season while the Dutch lost all-conference honoree Elyse Johnson. Czipri named Emma Wagler, Gracie Pierson, Rexroat, Kenney, Gwen Khalke, Leslie Snow, and Makayla Ribble as returning players to watch. 

We are excited for another challenging year in the American Rivers Conference. We love that our eight opponents always bring great competition and push us to be our best year in and year out. We return a hearty group who are extremely eager to continue to improve our conference play and incredibly motivated to make a run in the postseason. They will be joined by rising young returners who gained some valuable experience last season as well as some bring newcomers who will certainly enhance our competitiveness and team culture.
Jeanne Czipri, Central College Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 7 | Loras College Duhawks

Kristy Duncan enters her fourth season as the head coach of the Duhawks volleyball team. She has posted an overall career record at Loras of 35-33. Loras finished tied-sixth in the conference standings last season with a 3-5 conference mark, good enough to make their way into the league tournament. They finished the season with a 13-17 overall record. 

The Duhawks return Sara Hoskins, Autumn Finch, and Sophie Younkin from the 2023 all-conference team. Duncan listed Hoskins, Finch, Younkin, Elaina Schroeder, and Cat Meyer as their returning players to watch for the upcoming season. 

We are looking forward to another great season of competition in the A-R-C. After a year of playing a strong non-conference schedule with an incredibly young team, we return our starting lineup with more experience and depth. We saw some new faces step up in the spring, and we added some new Duhawks who will challenge our returners and make our gym better.
Kristy Duncan, Loras College Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 8 | Luther College Norse

Entering her seventh season, Brittany Sisk has compiled an overall record of 41-114 while at Luther. The Norse finished eighth in the conference standings last season following posting a league record of 1-7 and overall record of 9-21. 

The Norse return Sarina Stortz and Emma Kowlaczyk as all-conference performers for the upcoming season. Sisk named Stortz, Kowalczyk, Emily Hagen, and Kyah Olson Sola as returning players to watch for the 2024 campaign. 

“We ended the 2023 season playing some high level volleyball, and spent the entire spring season hungry to continue to be better everyday. We worked hard to become a united team, and together we have kept our eyes set on the 2024 season and cannot wait to see that sweat equity pay off.”
Brittany Sisk, Luther College Head Volleyball Coach

Preseason No. 9 | Buena Vista University Beavers

Will Baumann is entering his third season for the Beavers. He has posted an overall record of 19-30 during his first two seasons. Last season, Buena Vista finished with a 6-18 overall record and 0-8 conference mark. 

The Beavers welcome back Skylar Cole, who earned all-conference honorable mention last season. Baumann listed Sydney Meints and Mallory Ignaszewski as returning players to watch this season. 

We are looking to take steps forward as a program by building on the lessons learned in the 2023 season. The A-R-C will have a very formidable volleyball field this fall and we look forward to the matchups.
Will Baumann, Buena Vista University Head Volleyball Coach

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About the American Rivers Conference

The Conference dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges got together and formed the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association." Honoring its heritage in Iowa and its expansion outside the state, the American Rivers Conference brand was established on August 9, 2018, to build on the academic and athletic success provided by its legacy, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The A-R-C has nine full-time members: Buena Vista University, Central College, Coe College, University of Dubuque, Loras College, Luther College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Simpson College, and Wartburg College.