Naiya Sawtelle, North Carolina A&T

Izadora Stedile, Hofstra

Beatriz Alves, Hofstra

Naiya Sawtelle, North Carolina A&T

Eleven CAA Volleyball teams open the 2023 season this weekend, with over 30 matches on the docket. Highlighting the slate is the defending CAA Champions, Towson, visiting South Carolina for back-to-back contests. The Tigers will face the Gamecocks at 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday, with both games on SECN+. In addition, Campbell, North Carolina A&T and Northeastern begin the season on the road against Power Five competition. The Fighting Camels start their CAA tenure with a tournament at Colorado, facing the host Buffalos on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Aggies head to Charlottesville for the Cavalier Classic, opening against Rutgers on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Huskies head to the Wake Forest Invitational, where they conclude the weekend with a matchup against the Demon Decans on Saturday at 5 p.m. (ACCNX). Furthermore, four teams – Charleston, Delaware, Hofstra and UNCW – begin the fall by hosting tournaments. The invitationals will combine to produce 12 matches on FloVolleyball, headlined by Charleston hosting West Virginia at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Lani Mason, Delaware

The Tigers tallied 11 first-place votes and the maximum 121 points to be atop the preseason ranks for the third straight season. Delaware followed, collecting 102 points, three ahead of Hofstra, which tallied 99 points. Fourth through seventh were separated by 12 points as Charleston led the conglomerate with 83 points, followed by Northeastern with 81, newcomer Campbell with 73 and Elon at 71 points. William & Mary was eighth, with Stony Brook, North Carolina A&T, UNCW and Hampton rounding out the 12-team poll.

A pair of CAA Volleyball student-athletes earned American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention, as Delaware senior outside hitter Lani Mason and Towson sophomore outside hitter Victoria Barrett were recognized by the organization Wednesday morning.

Catch up on the CAA Volleyball weekly news, notes and awards.

Top-seeded Towson continued its dominant run in CAA Volleyball, defeating third-seeded Delaware in straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-22) to win its fourth consecutive CAA title Saturday evening on its home court at SECU Arena. The Tigers are the third program in league history to win four straight titles, but the first since George Mason won five from 1992-96.

Three of the top four seeds in the 2022 CAA Volleyball Championship presented by Primis won quarterfinal matches to advance to Friday's semifinals.

Four teams were represented with major awards, highlighted by Delaware’s Lani Mason earning CAA Player of the Year accolades in the announcement of 2022 CAA Volleyball year-end honors, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.

The 2022 CAA Volleyball Championship presented by Primis begins Thursday, and eight teams will compete for the conference title and the league’s automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament.

There are some familiar faces trying to be the queens of the Colonial Athletic Association Volleyball Championship once again, but there are some worthy challengers trying to ruin those hopes, too.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK