NORFOLK, Va., August 14, 2014 – Hampton outside hitter and last season’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year Vendula Strakova was named MEAC Volleyball Preseason Player of the Year, the conference announced today.

All awards are voted on by the conference’s head volleyball coaches and sports information directors.

The defending MEAC tournament champion Hampton Lady Pirates were predicted to win the Northern Division, while the Florida A&M Lady Rattlers were selected to win the Southern Division.

Hampton, which garnered 23 first-place votes, is coming off a season of firsts, in which it celebrated its first regular-season Northern Division championship and tournament championship. The Lady Pirates recorded a 19-11 overall record and 10-2 MEAC mark last season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament before falling  to No. 3 Stanford in the first round.

FAMU finished with 23 first-place votes and posted last season a 15-8 overall and a perfect 10-0 record in the South. The Lady Rattlers will be anchored be Preseason All-MEAC middle blocker Ginna Lopez-Chavez and libero Joanie Del Castillo. 

Howard and North Carolina A&T finished second in the North and South Divisions, respectively, and were voted to repeat as such this year.

The Lady Bison secured the most Preseason All-MEAC selections with three, including outside hitter Katherine Broussard, middle blocker Assata Conway and setter Stephanie Shultis.

Coppin State was picked third in the Northern Division, followed by Morgan State and Norfolk State in fourth and fifth, respectively.  Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State were voted sixth and seventh to round out the Northern Division.

Bethune-Cookman and South Carolina State are predicted to finish third and fourth in the Southern Division, while North Carolina Central and Savannah State were voted to finish fifth and sixth.

Conference play begins on Wednesday, Sept. 24 with the defending MEAC tournament champion Hampton Lady Pirates travel to Dover, Del., to take on the Delaware State Lady Hornets. The 2014 MEAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 21-23 at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Md.

- Listed below are the 2014 MEAC Preseason Predicted Order of Finish and Preseason All-MEAC team -

2014 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish

(First-Place Votes In Parenthesis) 

2014 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Team

Preseason Player of the Year: Vendula Strakova, Hampton