GLIAC -- Grand Valley State is the 2022 conference favorite, as revealed by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll on Monday. The results of the poll were determined by a vote of the league coaches.

Parity and highly-competitive play will be the hallmark of the 2022 regular season, if the preseason rankings are any indication. Just six points separates the predicted favorite from fourth place and four different teams received first-place votes.

The Lakers, who finished 17-10 overall and 10-4 in the GLIAC in 2021, received 68 total points, aided by four first-place votes, the most in the conference. GVSU returns two All-GLIAC performers from a year ago in Sarah Wight and Rachel Jacquay.

The defending regular season GLIAC champions, Michigan Tech, finished just two points behind GVSU in the poll with a total of 66. The Huskies, who are ranked No. 23 nationally in the AVCA Preseason Poll, earned three first-place votes.

Two points behind MTU in the rankings, with total of 64, is Wayne State. The Warriors, guided by GLIAC Coach of the Year Tim Koth, recorded a 20-win season in 2021 and posted an 11-4 mark in league play.

Ferris State, the reigning GLIAC Tournament champions, was selected to place fourth, receiving 62 points. The Bulldogs registered a 27-5 overall record in 2021 and earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship match.

Davenport was picked fifth, collecting 55 points, while Northern Michigan was the recipient of one first-place vote, helping it accrue 48 total points.

Saginaw Valley State (7th, 35 points), Parkside (8th, 26 points), Lake Superior State (9th, 17 points) and Purdue Northwest (10th, 9 points) rounded out the 2022 GLIAC Preseason Poll.