Coming off its best season since the early part of the decade, the John Carroll volleyball team still has some proving to do if the preseason poll of the Ohio Athletic Conference coaches in an indicator.

On the heels of an 18-12 campaign in 2008, the 2009 edition of the Blue Streaks has been picked to finish sixth of ten teams in a vote of the league's ten head coaches. Coaches are not allowed to vote on their own team. 

Defending league champion Ohio Northern is the preseason favorite, garnering 80 total votes and eight first place tallies. Mount Union is next in line with 69 votes and the other two first place nods.

Heidelberg (65), Capital (57) and Muskingum (50) round out the top five, with John Carroll (39), Marietta (34), Baldwin-Wallace (27), Otterbein (17) and Wilmington (12)  filling spots six through ten.

John Carroll returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team that posted a 4-5 record in OAC play and placed sixth in the final league standings.