
Central Islip, N.Y. - The University of
Bridgeport Purple Knights have been picked by the
conference’s coaches as the front runner to take home the
2012 ECC Volleyball title. The Purple Knights captured four first
place votes and 75 points to top the ranking. Sophomore outside
hitter Biljana Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia) from Bridgeport has been
named the Preseason Player of the Year.
Bridgeport continued its recent run of excellence in 2011, making
the championship game of the ECC Tournament as well as the NCAA
Tournament, for the fourth consecutive year. The Purple Knights
also advanced to the NCAA East Region Final for the third
consecutive year, where they defeated the University of New Haven
to advance to the Division II Elite Eight for the first time in
program history.
New York Institute of Technology received two first place votes to
finish one point ahead of Dowling College for second place in the
poll. Dowling, coming off a season in which they won their seventh
ECC Championship in eight years, also received two first place
votes to finish third. LIU Post picked up the final first place
vote to finish fourth with 54 points.
Savic was the ECC Rookie of the Year and the AVCA East Region
Rookie of the Year in 2011 after smashing 448 kills to rank fifth
in the conference and lead the Purple Knights. In addition to spots
on the All-Conference and All-Region teams, her impressive
collegiate debut also saw her earn recognition on the AVCA
All-America Honorable Mention list.
2012 ECC Volleyball Preseason Poll
School | Points | 2011 Record |
1. Bridgeport (4) | 75 | 21-8 |
2. NYIT (2) | 68 | 19-9 |
3. Dowling (2) | 67 | 28-5 |
4. LIU Post (1) | 54 | 17-15 |
5. Queens | 42 | 9-18 |
6. Molloy | 32 | 8-19 |
7. Roberts Wesleyan | 23 | 19-13 |
8. Mercy | 22 | 10-25 |
9. District of Columbia | 21 | 11-22 |
( ) - first place votes