BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College women's volleyball team was ranked this week at No. 11 in the New England Women's Volleyball Association Regional Poll for the week ending September 16, 2012.

                The Mountaineers won their only match last week, knocking off previously unbeaten Western New England University in three sets; WNEU was ranked No. 14 by NEWVA last week.  Senior captain Danielle Healis (Escondido, Calif.) led the way with a .450 hitting percentage, completing 11 kills and recording only two errors on 20 attempts.  Another senior captain, Alicia Manzo (Clovis, Calif.), had a well-rounded match with seven kills, three assists, eight digs and a service ace.

SVC head coach Josh Stokes said of being ranked so early in the season, "It feels fantastic.  The hard work these girls are putting in is paying off in more ways than one."  The Mountaineers are 8-0 on the season going into this Saturday's tri-match at Colby-Sawyer College featuring the Chargers and the Lions of Emerson College.  "We still have a very large mountain to climb," commented Stokes.

The Mountaineers were previously unranked in the NEWVA poll; this is the second week of polling.  NEWVA's Regional Poll is conducted by the NEWVA Poll Committee. The committee is comprised of representatives from each of the conferences in New England. The poll is based on all results through the previous Sunday. In order for a team to be eligible, the team's coach must be a paid and registered member of NEWVA.