ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Lady Railsplitters have been picked to repeat last season's South Atlantic Conference regular-season runner-up finish, while Samantha Cash, Kiera Holland and Tone Gill have been arrayed with preseason All-SAC honors, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday.
 
Lincoln Memorial enters the 2017 campaign looking to carry over the success of last season, when the Lady Railsplitters won a single-season program record 25 matches while also breaking the program record for conference wins (17) in route to a runner-up league finish. The Lady Railsplitters also ended a three-year NCAA Tournament drought and finished with a 25-9 overall record.
 
Lincoln Memorial earned 81 points in the poll, which is voted on by each of the conference's 11 head coaches.
 
Wingate was the unanimous preseason pick to capture the SAC regular-season title, as the Bulldogs have won an unprecedented 11 consecutive league championships. Wingate – who garnered 10 first-place votes and 100 total points – went 29-6 last season and 18-4 in SAC play.
 
Anderson received the final first-place vote and logged 76 points to finish third in the poll, and was followed by Queens (75) and Lenoir-Rhyne (65). Queens was the best of that bunch last season, as the Royals went 22-10 and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship game.
 
The six through nine spots were claimed by Newberry (61), Tusculum (49), Catawba (35) and Carson-Newman (28), while Mars Hill (22) and Coker (13) rounded out the poll in 10th and 11th, respectively. Newberry was the best of that group last season, tying for third place with a 16-6 conference record.
 
In addition to the results of the preseason SAC coaches poll, the conference office also unveiled the 16-player preseason All-SAC squad. Redshirt-junior right side/setter Samantha Cash was named to the first team, while senior outside hitter Kiera Holland and redshirt-junior middle blocker Tone Gill were placed on the second team.
 
Cash – a native of New Carlisle, Ohio – was dominant in her debut season with the Lady Railsplitters, ranking fifth in the SAC in total kills (361), ninth in kills per set (2.89) and fourth in attack percentage (.299). Cash upped her game in SAC play, pushing those numbers to 2.98 kills per set on a .316 attack percentage, the second-highest mark in the league. She also chipped in 224 digs and 1.79 per set while logging 55 total blocks. Cash issued a triple-double against Anderson with 10 kills, 10 assists and 11 digs. She was named to the All-SAC first team as well as the D2CCA and AVCA All-Southeast Region teams.
 
A product of Columbia, S.C., Holland earned the third straight All-SAC selection of her tenure in the Blue and Gray last season after putting up 353 kills and 2.94 per set on a .201 attack percentage. Holland played all six rotations for the Lady Railsplitters, recording 211 digs with 1.76 per set while racking up 58 blocks. Holland produced three matches with at least 20 kills, including back-to-back 20-kill performances against Tusculum and Carson-Newman to help the Lady Railsplitters open SAC play 2-0. She was an AVCA All-Southeast Region honorable mention pick, and enters the 2017 season just 18 kills away from becoming the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career kill mark.
 
Gill – a native of Nashville, Tenn. – had a breakout 2016 season, compiling 171 kills and 1.54 per set while finishing among the top three in the SAC in total blocks (114), block assists (94) and solo blocks (20). An elite athlete, Gill hit .231 for the season and compiled a .252 attack percentage in SAC play – the 15th-highest mark in the league. She had at least five blocks in nine of her 34 appearances.
 
The Lady Railsplitters open the 2017 season by hosting the LMU Volleyball Tournament at Mary Mars Gymnasium September 1-2, when 10 matches will be played over that 48-hour stretch. Lincoln Memorial opens that event with a 10 am first serve against Lee on Friday before returning to the court to square off against King at 8 pm. The Lady Railsplitters close the weekend against Erskine at 4:30 pm on Saturday. 
 

Team	Points (First-place votes)
1. Wingate	100 (10)
2. Lincoln Memorial	81
3. Anderson	76 (1)
4. Queens	75
5. Lenoir-Rhyne	65
6. Newberry	61
7. Tusculum	49
8. Catawba	35
9. Carson-Newman	28
10. Mars Hill	22
11. Coker	13