2024 Northeast Conference Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll                   1. Saint Francis U (4)                 2. LIU (4)                 3. FDU                 4. Chicago St.                 5. CCSU                 6. Stonehill                 7. Le Moyne                 8. Mercyhurst                First place votes in parentheses

Bridgewater, NJ — A different program has been crowned champion of Northeast Conference (NEC) women’s volleyball in each of the past three seasons, and according to the league’s head coaches, that trend is expected to continue in 2024.
 
By the slimmest of margins, an emerging Saint Francis U team is projected to ascend to the summit of NEC women’s volleyball for the first time ever. To accomplish that feat of a banner-raising season, though, the Red Flash must fend off a swarming LIU squad that is hungry for a repeat. 
 
Saint Francis U and LIU split the eight possible first-place tallies in the 2024 NEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll with four apiece, but one single point is what pushed the Red Flash past the Sharks as the favorite to win it all.
 
The remainder of the top half of the league standings is also projected to be a contentious battle this upcoming season. In a close race for the third spot, FDU, the 2022 NEC Tournament champion, edged out NEC newcomer Chicago State. 
 
Central Connecticut and Stonehill finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the vote, while Le Moyne, which enters its second season as a Division I and NEC member, was picked seventh. 
 
Embarking on its inaugural season as a member of the NCAA’s highest ranking, conference newcomer Mercyhurst rounds out the 2024 preseason poll. 
 
There has been an upward trend in Loretto for the Red Flash since the arrival of head coach Sara Spielvogel in 2016. Inheriting a squad that went 6-23 overall with a 4-10 mark against league opponents in 2015, Saint Francis U won 14 matches a year ago, the most since the 2006 campaign, and made its third consecutive NEC Tournament appearance in Spielvogel’s eighth year at the helm.
 
All-NEC first team outside hitter Korrin Burns (Clarion, PA/Clarion Area) anchored a potent Saint Francis U offense that ranked first in the NEC in points per set (15.91) and kills per set (12.47) in 2023. The rising junior topped the league’s charts in kills (3.60 per set). Despite losing fellow linemate and first team member Skye Eicher to graduation, the Red Flash’s attack will more than likely deliver a lethal one-two punch once again with the return of Kori McClure (Westerville, OH/Westerville North), a 2023 All-Tournament Team outside hitter who delivered 2.03 kills per set for the Red Flash as a sophomore last season.
 
The Sharks also have several weapons in their arsenal as they look to re-establish their dominance in the conference. A pair of NEC all-stars — as well as one of the league’s top returning setters — will be back from last season’s squad, which hoisted the tournament trophy for the first time since the 2017 campaign.
 
Leading that core is senior libero Alasha Colon (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Academia Presbiteriana (St. Francis Brooklyn)). The reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-NEC first team and NEC All-Tournament team member led the NEC and was ranked 10th in NCAA Division I in digs per set (5.43). Second-year head coach Amable Martinez also brings back senior Camelia Melendez (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Católico Notre Dame), a lethal outside hitter and two-time All-NEC first teamer, as well as junior playmaker Selina Koç (Izmir, Turkey/Gelisim), who was third in the circuit with 7.05 assists per set last season.
 
Chicago State went 13-9 overall as a Division I Independent in 2023. The Cougars earned a National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) at-large bid for the second time in three seasons where they fell in the opening round to Drake in three sets. 
 
Mercyhurst will turn to veteran head coach Ryan Patton to navigate the Lakers through their inaugural Division I campaign and first year as an NEC member. The league’s newest member qualified for five Division II NCAA Tournaments under the 20th-year head coach in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
 
The top four teams in the league standings will qualify for the 2024 NEC Women’s Volleyball Tournament, which will be held on Nov. 22-23 at the site of the highest seed. 
 
As reclassifying institutions, Stonehill, Le Moyne and Mercyhurst are ineligible for the NEC’s AQ for the NCAA Tournament until 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively. Beginning in 2026-27, the Lakers will be eligible to compete in the NEC postseason.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now entering its 44th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#8). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#87). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.