SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Five-time defending champion Roger Williams University has been selected as the favorite to win the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) volleyball championship after receiving six first place votes for a total of 78 points in the CCC preseason poll. Salve Regina University earned second place with 70 points and two first place votes, while Endicott College, the 2013 runner-up, claimed third with 64 points and garnered the remaining first place vote. Western New England University was tabbed fourth with 57 points and the University of New England earned 46 points for fifth to round out the top billing. After a seventh-place finish a season ago, Wentworth Institute of Technology received 29 points for a predicted finish of sixth.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head volleyball coaches.

The top five teams in the 2014 poll competed in either the NCAA Tournament or the ECAC Tournament a season ago. After Roger Williams captured their fifth-consecutive CCC title, a 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-21) win over Endicott, the Hawks' postseason continued with a NCAA first round game at Williams College. Roger Williams logged it's first-ever win at the national tournament, a 3-0 (25-13, 25-7, 25-13) victory over St. Joseph's College (L.I.). The Hawks would see their season end in the second round of the national tournament, as UMass-Boston handed RWU a tough 3-1 (23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25) loss. Endicott, Salve Regina, the University of New England, and Western New England all competed in the ECAC tournament. In the quarterfinals, Salve Regina beat Emerson 3-0, Western New England claimed a 3-0 win over the University of New England, and Endicott defeated Emmanuel, 3-0. The semifinals saw the Golden Bears knock out the Gulls, 3-0, while Smith beat Salve Regina 3-0. Western New England went on to claim its second-consecutive ECAC championship title after a 3-2 victory over Smith.

Third-year head coach Evin Giglio and the Leopards set a program record for wins with 16 and finished over .500 for the first time in program history last season. Wentworth narrowly missed out on qualifying for the CCC Tournament, something the Black & Gold look to change in 2014. The Leopards welcome back eight players from a season ago, including junior Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.), who earned All-CCC honorable mention honors in 2013 after averaging 2.62 kills and 2.43 digs per set. Senior Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) averaged 4.30 digs per set and 0.54 services aces per set, while sophomore Jordan Young (Derry, N.H.) also returns after a rookie season that saw her average 1.70 kills and hit .248.

2014 CCC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll

All nine CCC volleyball teams will take to the court this weekend, to begin their quest for the 2014 conference title. The CCC six-team volleyball tournament will begin Tuesday, November 4, with quarterfinal action between seeds 3-6. The top two seeds will host semifinal matches on Thursday, November 6 and the championship match will be held on Saturday, November 8.

Click HERE to view the 2014 CCC Volleyball composite schedule.

(Portions of this release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference office)