Volleyball

women’s basketball ranked 10th in preseason poll

#	Team	W-L	Pts.	Last Week
1	Washington U. (7)	26-5	588	2
2	Amherst (5)	29-4	579	6
3	Hope (7)	28-2	577	4
4	George Fox (6)	32-0	509	1
5	Scranton	26-5	492	11
6	Illinois Wesleyan	30-1	441	3
7	Bowdoin	24-5	394	22
8	Wis.-Whitewater	23-5	385	17
9	Brandeis	20-8	359	13
10	Muhlenberg	26-4	331	14
11	Kean	22-8	294	—
12	DePauw	22-8	261	—
13	Southern Maine	22-7	238	—
14	Chicago	17-8	222	—
15	Moravian	21-7	216	—
16	Howard Payne	23-6	205	—
17	Texas-Dallas	21-5	184	—
18	Trinity (Texas)	20-8	175	—
19	New York University	23-5	147	16
20	Marymount	20-7	144	—
21	New Jersey	28-5	141	5
22	Capital	22-6	119	—
23	Wis.-Stevens Point	26-4	110	7
24	St. Benedict	26-4	107	18
25	Wis.-Stout	16-11	104	—

On the heels of the most successful season in program history, the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team is ranked 10th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll — not far from the Mules’ highest national ranking ever.

Muhlenberg graduated two starters but returns nine letterwinners from a squad that went 26-4 and won a second straight Centennial Conference championship last year. In addition to becoming the first team to go undefeated through the CC regular and postseasons, the Mules won two games in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the “Sweet 16” for the first time ever.

This is the third time Muhlenberg has appeared in the D3hoops.com preseason top 25. The Mules were rated 20th prior to the start of the 2002-03 season and 24th last year. They also received votes in the 2006-07 preseason poll.

The highest preseason ranking in program history came in 1997, when Muhlenberg was tabbed ninth by College Sports magazine. The team’s highest regular-season ranking was No. 8 (by D3hoops.com) in January 2002.

Some familiar names appear in the top 15. Moravian and Marymount, who handed the Mules two of their three regular-season losses last year, are ranked No. 15 and No. 20, respectively. Brandeis, which ended Muhlenberg’s season in the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament, is No. 9, and Bowdoin, the team the Mules beat to reach the “Sweet 16,” is No. 7.

Scranton is ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll, which could make for a terrific Scotty Wood Tournament final if both teams get past their first-round games. The Mules open up with Pitt-Bradford (11-14 last year), while the Royals are slated to take on Alvernia (18-10 with a win against Muhlenberg) in their opening games on Friday, November 20.