BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference release the 2019 NSIC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll and Concordia-St. Paul was tabbed to finish second in the league while senior middle blocker Sara Macek was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year.
 
Macek becomes the first CSP player to be named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year since Riley Hanson earned the honor in 2016 and third in the past eight years as Kayle Koenecke also garnered the selection in 2012. The Monicello native is coming off a breakout junior season in which she earned AVCA All-America First Team and D2CCA All-America honorable mention honors. Macek put up the ninth-best single-season hitting percentage in program history at .388, placing her 11^th in the nation on the year. She also led the team with 0.74 blocks per set while ranking second with 3.14 kills per set. The middle blocker had 10 or more kills in 20 matches on the year while also hitting .400 or better 21 times.
 
The defending NSIC Co-Champions of Northern State University have been picked by the league coaches to finish first in the conference, snapping a streak of 15 consecutive seasons with the Golden Bears claiming the top spot in the poll. The Wolves are coming off a season in which they won a share of the NSIC regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. NSU received six first place votes to tally 209 points.
 
Minnesota Duluth, which shared the NSIC regular season title with NSU last year, and CSP tied for second as both received 203 points, just seven points off the top spot. The Golden Bears received five first place votes while UMD got four.  Wayne State was fourth in the poll with 178 points while Southwest Minnesota State was fifth with 170 points and the other first place vote.    
 
For the fourth season in a row and the 16th time in the past 17 years, the Golden Bears reached the NCAA Region Championship match in 2018 as the squad compiled a 24-9 overall record with a 16-4 mark in league play. While the 2018 team was an experienced bunch with four seniors and a pair of juniors in the regular rotation, the 2019 team will feature a lot of new faces with six freshmen and a pair of sophomores in the mix.
 
With over half of the roster comprised of underclassmen, CSP still does have a handful of experienced returners as Macek, Sydney Book, Tori Hanson, Erin Fallert and Kennedy Brady all played key roles throughout the season last year. In addition to Macek, libero Tori Hanson gives CSP another player who earned 2018 honors as the junior was tabbed as an All-NSIC Second Team selection while also being named to the NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team. A pair of outside hitters, senior Sydney Book and junior Erin Fallert will both look to continue to provide the Golden Bears with versatility in 2019 while sophomore Kennedy Brady will look to build off of a strong finish to her freshman campaign.
 
Concordia opens up the season at the Florida Southern/Tampa Classic on Sept. 6-7 while the NSIC schedule begins Friday, September 20.  The 2019 NSIC regular season champion will be determined by the 20-game conference schedule. The top eight teams will play in the single elimination NSIC Volleyball Tournament on November 22-24. All three rounds of the tournament will take place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and aired live on MidcoSN.