RSC Communications
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – Indiana University Kokomo is the unanimous favorite in the 2021 River States Conference Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Poll conducted by the league’s 13 head coaches. The Cougars got the maximum of 12 first-place votes in the poll and 144 overall votes.
IU Kokomo was 24-6 overall, 13-0 RSC last year enroute to its third straight RSC Volleyball Championship in the conference’s postseason tournament. The Cougars have won five of the past six conference titles and ended last year ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. That was after IU Kokomo won an NAIA National Championship Opening Round matchup and went 1-1 at the final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Indiana University East was picked second in the RSC preseason poll with 133 points. The Red Wolves were the consensus runner-up in this preseason and the RSC East Division favorite after being in the same spots at the end of last year. IU East was 13-5 overall, 10-0 RSC and fell to IU Kokomo in the RSC finals to qualify for the NAIA national tournament.
Midway University came in third in the preseason poll with 118 votes. The Eagles are coming off a season of 17-7 overall, 11-5 RSC and second place in the RSC West Division behind IU Kokomo. IU Southeast was picked fourth with 110 votes to make it three teams from the division in the top four overall. The Grenadiers were 10-9, 9-5 RSC last year.
The next three teams in the poll were all from the RSC East with WVU Tech (94 votes) picked fifth overall, University of Rio Grande (Ohio) (92 votes) sixth and Point Park (Pa.) University (72 votes) seventh. With the top four teams in each division making the RSC postseason, Brescia University was predicted as the final playoff team and came in eighth overall with 64 votes.
See below for the complete poll of 13 schools this year. RSC volleyball welcomes two new teams this season with new conference members St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) and Ohio Valley (W.Va.) University joining the RSC West and East divisions, respectively.
2021 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL COACHES’ PRESEASON POLL
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School | Votes |
| 1. IU Kokomo (12) | 144 |
| 2. IU East (1) | 133 |
| 3. Midway (Ky.) | 118 |
| 4. IU Southeast | 110 |
| 5. WVU Tech | 94 |
| 6. Rio Grande (Ohio) | 92 |
| 7. Point Park (Pa.) | 72 |
| 8. Brescia (Ky.) | 64 |
| 9. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) | 47 |
| 10. Ohio Christian | 41 |
| 11. Ohio Valley (W.Va.) | 40 |
| 12. Carlow (Pa.) | 33 |
| 13. Oakland City (Ind.) | 26 |