ROYAL OAK – Defending champion Calvin has been chosen as the preseason favorite to win the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association volleyball championship this fall.

The Knights, who didn’t lose a match until the NCAA Division III regional tournament last fall, received six of the nine first-place votes in the MIAA preseason coaches’ poll that was announced Wednesday. Hope, which finished second to Calvin last season, received the other three first-place votes.

MIAA teams will begin non-conference play Aug. 31, with conference action getting under way Sept. 4.

MIAA Volleyall Poll Results

(first-place votes in parenthesis)

1. Calvin (6) 10 pts. 2. Hope (3) 13. 3. Alma 26. 4. Trine 29. 5. Kalamazoo 38. 6. Saint Mary’s 40. 7. Adrian 48. 8. Olivet 58. 9. Albion 62