The St. Lawrence University Volleyball team finished second in the final Liberty League standings last year. Despite that finish and the return of a pair of All-Americans, the Saints are predicted by the Liberty League coaches to finish third according to the preseason poll released Wednesday.

Clarkson finished first in the voting with 36 points and six first place votes and RIT was second with 28 points and one first place vote. St. Lawrence and Union were tied for third with each receiving 23 points; Vassar was fifth with 20 points followed by Skidmore (11 points) and Bard (6 points).

"We have very high expectations for this fall," said Head Coach Shelly Roiger. "We were very disappointed with how our season ended in playoffs last year and due to our experience, talent, and leadership I expect that we will contend for a conference title."

The Saints finished the 2014 season with a 3-1 loss to RIT in the semifinal round of the Liberty League Tournament after beating the Tigers twice during the regular season. St. Lawrence was 9-3 in conference play during the regular season earning the No. 2 seed in the League Tournament.

Returning to the lineup for coach Roiger are returning All-Americans Lexi Brown and Cristina Deschaine. The duo combined for 677 kills, 241 digs and 177 blocks with each earning First-Team All-Liberty League honors.

Brown eclipsed the 1,000-career kill milestone in a match against Clarkson in October and Deschaine broke the school single-season block record in November.

Deschaine and Brown are just two of the returning stars for the Saints after graduating just one senior from the 2014 squad. First-Year Katie Kull led the team with 543 assists and was named the Most Improved player from 2014. Mariah Dignan (365 digs) and Katie Rowell (230 digs) were the top two defensive players on the team while Dignan (37 aces), Marisa Turner (37 aces) and Maddy Ruehl (35 aces) were the top servers. Becky Briggs returns with 215 kills and a team-leading .310 attack percentage while Masha Kolesnikova (197 kills and 50 blocks) are also returning starters for Roiger and the Saints.

The number of returning veterans with experience will help with the start of the long season just a few days away.

"We're dealing with the most injuries we've ever had in a preseason before but a big part of athletics and life is dealing with adversity so we will take our current setbacks and channel them into a teachable moment," said Roiger. "We look forward to getting our team healthy and on the court together as we focus on making progress each and every week."

St. Lawrence opens the 2015 season at SUNY Canton September 1 before trips to Cortland for the Red Dragon Invitational and New Jersey for the Garden State Tournament the next two weekends. The Saints open at home on September 25 as part of the Canton Classic being played at both St. Lawrence University and SUNY Canton.