Volleyball picked seventh in 2020-21 HCAC preseason poll

CARMEL, Ind. - The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball coaches' preseason poll, released Thursday morning, found the Defiance College program ranked seventh. 

Transylvania racked up 95 points in the poll to claim the first-place slot, while Hanover was voted to finish second with 81 points. Earlham was picked to finish third, with 75 votes, followed by Rose-Hulman (57) and Bluffton (51), who rounded out the top half of the poll in fourth and fifth spots.

Mount St. Joseph was picked to finish sixth with 48 points. The Yellow Jackets tallied 43 points in the polling for the seventh-place result. Following Defiance was Franklin (36) and Anderson (18) in the eight and nine spots. Rounding out the HCAC volleyball coaches' preseason poll is Manchester with 16 points. 

Defiance will return key talent from last year, of which three Yellow Jackets landed themselves on the 2021 HCAC Players to Watch list, including senior Morgan Porter (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance) and juniors Mackenzie Benham (Marshall, Mich./ Marshall ) and Brianna Wheeler (Sturgis, Mich./ Sturgis). 

Porter, coming off a record-setting season, dominated the 2019 campaign as she finished the season ranked twelfth in the country among NCAA Division III in digs per set at 6.14. She was ranked second in the HCAC in digs per set and set a school record for most digs in a season with 688 total digs. The senior's efforts earned her a spot on the 2019 All-HCAC First Team. 

Benham played in 29 matches and 111 sets, finishing second on the team in kills with 306. The junior outside hitter recorded 251 digs averaging 2.26 digs per set, and added 23 blocks to the stat sheet.

Wheeler played in 24 matches and 110 sets as a setter, recording 1005 assists, ranking her second in the HCAC and fourth in school history for a single season. She led the HCAC with 57 service aces and added 264 digs, totaling an average of 3.40 digs per set. 

Defiance College volleyball, under the direction of the ninth-year head coach, Brie Brenner, finished the 2019-20 season 17-12 overall and 5-4 in conference play, including a trip to the conference tournament landed DC 5th in the HCAC standings.

The Purple and Gold are set to begin the 2020-21 season this Saturday, January 23rd, with a doubleheader at Hanover. The Yellow Jackets will hold their first homestand on Wednesday, January 27th, as they host Manchester for two matches.