Coker Women’s Volleyball Picked Twelfth in SAC Preseason Poll

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – As Sept. 5 begins to draw near, the Coker College women's volleyball team, under the tutelage of first-year head coach Julia Rafalowski, is gearing up for their 2015 campaign. She comes to Coker after coaching stints at Carson-Newman University and Sullivan East High School, and is bringing a goal-oriented mindset with her.

"A couple of our goals consist of winning our home opener, winning 10-plus games and making it to the conference tournament," said Rafalowski. "Off the court we want to have a team GPA of 3.5 or better and the best team GPA on campus."

The Cobras enter their third season in the South Atlantic Conference as the No. 12 ranked team in the SAC preseason poll. Wingate University is the heavy favorite, with Lenoir-Rhyne coming in at No. 2.

"From top to bottom the conference is really strong, and everyone is chasing Wingate," said Rafalowski. "We have a chance to go out and prove some people wrong, the ranking is just fuel to this team's fire."

After graduating just two seniors from last year's team, the 2015 edition of Coker's roster consist of 11 returners and five freshmen. Although the squad is a young one with just one senior and one junior, many of the sophomores saw a substantial amount of playing time last season.

Leading the way for the Cobras will be the sophomore trio of Megan Hardy, Madison Bingle and Christen Bragg. Hardy and Bingle led the 2014 roster in the kills column with 168 and 157 kills, while Bragg dished out a team-high 772 assists last season.

"The majority of the returners saw a lot of playing time last season, so I expect all of them to have a great season," said Rafalowski.

The five freshmen round out the Cobras' youth movement and will look to make an immediate impact on the court.

"All five ladies have worked very hard so far," said Rafalowski. "One player that has really stood out is Kara Overholt, and she is really proving that she deserves a spot in the lineup."

With the strong competition the Navy and Yellow will face match in and match out, solid play on both sides of the ball will be vital for success this season.

"Our defense is really strong, we aren't letting many balls hit the court and we are scrapping for everything," said Rafalowski. "One thing we have to continue to improve upon is putting shots away."

Rafalowski and her players have a plan set in place and future for Coker women's volleyball looks to be a bright one.

"We aren't here to be at the bottom anymore, we want to rise to the top of the conference and be one of the top teams here on campus," said Rafalowski.

The Cobras will begin their season on Saturday, Sept. 5, with a road match against Shaw University at 4:00 p.m.