LANCASTER, PA – The three-time reigning Centennial Conference tournament champion Johns Hopkins volleyball team has been picked to finish second in the 2019 Preseason Coaches Poll, the conference office announced today. Hopkins garnered two first-place votes among the 11 conference coaches, and totaled 90 points overall; eight shy of the conference favorite Franklin & Marshall (98).
 
Head coach Matt Troy, who returns to Homewood for his second stint with Blue Jays after previously serving in the position from 2010-12, inherits a program that has won six out of the last eight Centennial Tournament titles, including each of the past three. Hopkins has dominated the conference landscape of late, tallying a 28-2 regular season conference record over the last three seasons.
 
Johns Hopkins returns a pair of American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American selections from 2018 in junior outside hitter Simone Bliss (Third Team) and senior outside hitter Louisa Kishton (Honorable Mention). Bliss led the Centennial Conference with 390 kills, 44 more than next highest conference total, while Kishton's 3.18 kills per set were good for the third-highest mark in the conference.
 
Franklin & Marshall was selected as the preseason favorite by the conference coaches. The Diplomats grabbed nine out of a potential ten first-place votes (coaches cannot select their own team), and return the 2018 Centennial Conference Player of the Year in junior setter, Grace Maggiore. The Diplomats knocked off Hopkins in last year's regular season finale to earn the conference regular season crown, but were upset by McDaniel in the conference tournament semifinal.
 
The Blue Jays boast a schedule that features seven teams from the 2018 NCAA Tournament field, including an early-season clash with Mary Washington on September 14. Troy led the Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances in his six seasons as the head coach in Fredericksburg.
 
Hopkins gets the 2019 campaign underway this weekend in Hoboken, N.J.. The Jays will face Milliken on Friday, Aug. 30 at 6pm.
 
Be sure to follow the Blue Jays all season long on Twitter (@JHUVB) and on Instagram (@johnshopkinsvolleyball).
 
2019 Centennial Conference Preseason Poll
Rk.       School (1^st Place Votes) – Points (2018 Record)
1.         Franklin & Marshall (9) – 98 (23-8, 10-0)
2.         Johns Hopkins (2) – 90 (22-8, 8-2)
3.         McDaniel – 79 (23-9, 7-3)
4.         Swarthmore – 78 (14-10, 7-3)
5.         Gettysburg – 61 (17-7, 5-5)
T-6.      Muhlenberg – 51 (20-8, 7-3)
T-6.      Haverford – 51 (11-17, 4-6)
8.         Washington College – 32 (10-16, 3-7)
9.         Dickinson – 29 (10-18, 2-8)
10.       Ursinus – 26 (10-18, 2-8)
11.       Bryn Mawr – 10 (6-17, 0-10)