The Carl Sandburg College volleyball team has made history even before playing its first match of 2019.
The Chargers came in at No. 20 in the NJCAA Division II preseason rankings released Monday afternoon, marking the first time in program history that Sandburg has appeared in the first poll of the season.
Sandburg opens its 2019 schedule at 6 p.m. Thursday on the road against another ranked team, No. 17 Illinois Central. The Chargers’ slate also includes three tournaments hosted by teams that appear in the preseason rankings — No. 9 Grand Rapids (Sept. 28-29), No. 18 Iowa Central (Oct. 11-12) and No. 2 Parkland (Oct. 25-26).
Sandburg is looking to earn its third straight trip to the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship after a 2018 campaign that included the Chargers successfully defending their Region IV tournament title and winning their first Arrowhead Conference championship since 1990. Sandburg finished last year with a 26-19 overall record and was unbeaten in eight conference matches.
Sandburg returns six players from last year’s roster, including middle hitter Peyton Bowman (Sciota, Ill./West Prairie), who was named All-America honorable mention, Region IV Player of the Year and Arrowhead Conference Most Valuable Player as a freshman. Also back for the Chargers is setter Cora Vyhnanek (Colchester, Ill./West Prairie), who joined Bowman on the All-Arrowhead and All-Region IV teams.
