NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team was picked to finish sixth in the MEAC Northern Division when the 2016 preseason all-conference team and predicted order of finish were released by the conference office on Friday morning.
The Spartans received 54 points in the preseason voting a year after finishing in a tie for fifth with Hampton in the division in 2015.
Howard, meanwhile, earned 19 of the 24 first-place votes and 163 points to finish first in the Northern Division preseason poll. UMES earned five first-place votes and 142 points for second, followed by Morgan State (109) and Coppin State (87).
Hampton earned 72 points for fifth, while Delaware State finished behind NSU with 45 points.
Bethune-Cookman, last year's regular season Southern Division champion, earned 16 of 24 first-place votes and 134 points to finish first in the balloting. Florida A&M had only eight first-place votes but 124 points, just 10 behind B-CU. North Carolina A&T was third with 89 points, followed by North Carolina Central (83), South Carolina State (48) and Savannah State (26).
Howard outside hitter Khaila Donaldson was voted the preseason MEAC Player of the Year and joined teammate and libero Morgan Marlbrough on the preseason team. B-CU had two players in middle blockers Rakaya Neely and Phylecia Armstrong, while Florida A&M (MB Dei'ja Martin), Hampton (OH Reena Richardson) and UMES (OH Zuzana Ondruskova) also had one player each named to the preseason team.
Voting was done by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
NSU will begin its regular season on Aug. 26 against UMBC in the Virginia Tech/Radford Invitational.
2016 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
(First-Place Votes In Parenthesis)
| Northern Division |
Points |
| Howard (19) |
163 |
| Maryland Eastern Shore (5) |
142 |
| Morgan State |
109 |
| Coppin State |
87 |
| Hampton |
72 |
| Norfolk State |
54 |
| Delaware State |
45 |
| Southern Division |
Points |
| Bethune-Cookman (16) |
134 |
| Florida A&M (8) |
124 |
| North Carolina A&T |
89 |
| North Carolina Central |
83 |
| South Carolina State |
48 |
| Savannah State |
26 |
2016 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Team
| Name |
Position |
Class |
School |
Hometown |
| Rakaya Neely |
MB |
Jr. |
Bethune-Cookman |
Lake Wales, Fla. |
| Phylecia Armstrong |
MB |
R-Sr. |
Bethune-Cookman |
Tacariqua, Trinidad & Tobago |
| Dei'ja Martin |
MB |
Sr. |
Florida A&M |
Glenns Ferry, Idaho |
| Reena Richardson |
OH |
So. |
Hampton |
Ellicott City, Md. |
| Khaila Donaldson |
OH |
Jr. |
Howard |
Vernon Hills, Ill. |
| Morgan Marlbrough |
L |
Sr. |
Howard |
Mandeville, La. |
| Zuzana Ondruskova |
OH |
So. |
Maryland Eastern Shore |
Bilovec, Czech Republic |
Preseason Player of the Year: Khaila Donaldson, Howard
