BOSTON – For the second straight season, the 13 head volleyball coaches in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) have predicted that the Suffolk University Rams will finish ninth, according to the preseason coaches' poll, which was released by the conference office Thursday morning. 

The Rams accumulated 60 points to finish ahead of Saint Joseph (Conn.) (58), Mount Ida (56), Norwich (29) and Albertus Magnus (15). 

Johnson & Wales, which went undefeated against conference competition in 2016 and hoisted the league trophy last season, was a unanimous selection to repeat with the Wildcats collecting all 13 first-place votes for 169 points. 

Spots two through four held true to the final 2016 standings as Rivier (155) took second with Anna Maria (134) and Simmons (127) pegged third and fourth, respectively. Emmanuel, which finished seventh a year ago, rounds out the top five with 110 votes. 

Entering her third season as head coach, Bonny Ducharme looks to lead the Rams to the GNAC postseason for the second straight season, which would mark Suffolk's first back-to-back conference tournament appearance since the 2005, 2006 seasons. The blue-and-gold look to build off its 11-16 overall, 4-7 league ledger from last season and will call upon veteran leaders including senior Liz Kerek and juniors Bridget Allison, Talia Lombardo and Chidera Nwankwo. 

The first serve of 2017 will take place on the road for the Rams as they travel to Mass. Maritime Tuesday, Sept. 5 for a 7 p.m. contest. The Rams and Buccaneers will open up against one another in the first contest of the season for the second consecutive campaign. A year ago, Suffolk defeated Mass. Maritime in straight sets in Boston.