The Muhlenberg men’s and women’s soccer teams were each picked to garner their fifth consecutive playoff berth, while volleyball was predicted to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2001 in the Centennial Conference preseason polls.

Centennial Conference preseason polls men’s soccer 1. Johns Hopkins (8) 80 2. MUHLENBERG (1) 67 3. McDaniel 57 4. Franklin & Marshall 56 5. Gettysburg 52 6. Swarthmore (1) 47 7. Dickinson 37 8. Washington 21 9. Haverford 20 10. Ursinus 13 women’s soccer 1. Gettysburg (4) 91 2. Johns Hopkins (4) 90 3. Haverford (3) 87 4. MUHLENBERG 73 5. Dickinson 61 6. Ursinus 57 7. McDaniel 45 8. Franklin & Marshall 41 9. Swarthmore 29 10. Washington 16 11. Bryn Mawr 14

SOCCER
The Mule men collected 67 points and one first-place vote for second place behind defending-champion Johns Hopkins’ 80 points and eight first-place votes. Swarthmore also received a first-place vote, but generated only 47 points for sixth place.

The 2004 Mules went 9-7-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the conference for fifth place. The 2005 team will field a similar squad to last year, as it lost just two members to graduation. Muhlenberg has won four of the last 11 conference championships, its most recent in 2003.

The Mules are scheduled to open the season with a tournament at Johns Hopkins Labor Day Weekend and host the Blue Jays in their conference opener on Sept. 17.

On the women’s side, Muhlenberg collected 73 points for fourth place. Gettysburg, 91 points, and Johns Hopkins, 90 points, are first and second respectively, each collecting four first-place votes. Haverford, with three first-place votes, is third with 87 points.

The Mules, who return 11 letterwinners this year, finished 2004 at a 10-6-2 clip and were fourth in the CC at 6-3-1. Muhlenberg won the regular-season crown four consecutive years between 2000 and 2003, taking the conference championship three times.

The women’s soccer team has the first official Muhlenberg contest of

Centennial Conference preseason poll volleyball 1. Gettysburg (4) 92 2. Franklin & Marshall (5) 91 3. Johns Hopkins (2) 86 4. Haverford 69 5. MUHLENBERG 63 6. Dickinson 57 7. Swarthmore 44 8. Washington 38 9. McDaniel 36 10. Ursinus 18 11. Bryn Mawr 11

the 2004-05 school year, hosting Cabrini on Thursday, Sept. 1.

VOLLEYBALL
Muhlenberg earned the fifth spot in the coach’s preseason poll.

Four-time defending-champion Gettysburg collected four first-place votes and 92 points for a slight edge over Franklin & Marshall’s five first-place selections and 91 points. Johns Hopkins’ 86 points and two-first place votes placed it third. Muhlenberg is fifth with 63 points, just behind Haverford’s 69.

The 2004 squad went 11-14, including 5-5 in the Centennial Conference for sixth place. In 2005, Muhlenberg welcomes back 10 of 11 letterwinners, including American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Julie Lauro.

The Mules start the season September 2-3 at the Greyhound Premiere Invitational at Moravian.