The Nebraska Wesleyan University volleyball team was selected seventh in the 2009 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ poll that was released on Monday (Aug. 10). The Prairie Wolves received 87 total points in the poll.

Northwestern College totaled 142 points and 10 first place votes to be picked as the preseason conference favorite. Morningside College received 133 points and three first place votes, while Dordt College had 114 points to round out the top three.

Nebraska Wesleyan head coach Gina Chambers, who begins her sixth year at NWU, is expected to return four starters and seven lettermen off of the 2008 squad that finished 20-10 overall, 10-6 in the GPAC to finish in sixth place in the league standings. The 10 GPAC wins were the most conference wins in school history. The Prairie Wolves qualified for the NCAA III National Tournament for the fifth straight season in 2008, advancing to the second round for the first time since 2002. Two returning players earned All-GPAC recognition last season.

The Prairie Wolves open regular season play on Sept. 4-5 when they travel to Elmhurst, Ill., to take part in the Elmhurst College Tournament. NWU will play four matches in the tournament beginning on Friday afternoon when they open the season against Elmhurst College at 4 p.m.

Nebraska Wesleyan’s first home match of the season is Sept. 15 when the Prairie Wolves host GPAC rival Hastings College in Snyder Arena.