Boston, Mass. - The Stony Brook volleyball team was picked to finish third out of seven teams in a poll of America East’s head coaches, announced Monday by the conference office.

The Seawolves, who finished tied for second in the regular-season conference standings in 2014 with a 7-5 mark, were chosen behind defending conference champion New Hampshire and Albany. The Wildcats received five of the seven first-place votes, while the Great Danes secured the other two.

UMBC was chosen to finish fourth, while Binghamton, Hartford and UMass Lowell rounded out the voting. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

The Seawolves open the 2015 season Friday, Aug. 28 with a three-match weekend invitational at No. 1 Penn State. Stony Brook will face Villanova in the first match of the year before taking on the defending national champion Nittany Lions and Buffalo in a Saturday doubleheader.

Conference play begins Friday, Sept. 25 when Stony Brook hosts UMBC at Pritchard Gymnasium. Teams will play a 12-match conference slate with the top four eligible teams qualifying for the 2015 America East Championship, hosted by the regular-season champion during the weekend of November 20-22.

2015 America East Volleyball Preseason Poll