Tampa Volleyball Selected First in 2016 SSC Preseason Poll

MELBOURNE, Fla.– The University of Tampa and Florida Southern College share the No. 1 spot in the 2016 Sunshine State Conference preseason volleyball coaches' poll. UT took in five first place votes while Florida Southern received four top selections.

Tampa has been crowned SSC regular season champions 25 times, including each of the last 11 seasons. Florida Southern last won the conference championship in 2006, splitting the title with the Spartans. The Moccasins have a total of seven conference championships with six coming during the first decade of SSC volleyball (1981-1990).

Saint Leo University lands in third place for a second consecutive year with 46 total votes. The Lions shared the 2009 conference championship with Tampa.

Tampa [27-6, 15-1] repeats as SSC regular season champions in 2015 and earned the program's 20th consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament. In the regional, the Spartans took care of Eckerd College in the first round (3-0) before being eliminated by Florida Southern [25-9, 9-7] in the semifinals (3-2)

The regional semifinal win was Florida Southern's first victory over Tampa since 2008. The Moccasin's they were unable to keep the momentum moving as they fell in the regional championship to SSC provisional member and national runner-up, Palm Beach Atlantic University (3-1). 

Saint Leo's [21-11, 10-6] second place finish in the SSC provided them a third straight NCAA south region berth. After blanking West Florida (3-0) in the quarterfinals of the regional they were defeated by Palm Beach Atlantic (3-2) in the semifinals.

Tampa and Florida Southern represent the SSC in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 poll. Tampa begins the year at No. 7, while Florida Southern is No. 15.

The 2015 Sunshine State Conference volleyball season opens up Thursday, September 1st. Conference play begins Friday, September 16th.  The Spartans will kickoff their 2016 season hosting the Tampa Volleyball Classic on Friday, Sept. 2 with a 2:30 p.m. contest against Franklin Pierce.

2016 SSC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL