Defending West Virginia Conference men's basketball champion West Virginia State was voted the league's preseason No. 1 team Tuesday in a poll of league coaches.

The Yellow Jackets, who lost four starters from last year's team, will be led by senior guard Darren Jones.

West Liberty, Alderson-Broaddus and defending conference tournament champion Pitt Johnstown were voted in the No. 2, 3, and 4 spots while Charleston rounds out the top five.

The league's regular season opens Nov. 15.

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 WVC AWARDS: Eddie Hills of West Liberty and Reggie Taylor of West Virginia Wesleyan shared the West Virginia Conference football offensive player of the week award.

Hills caught 10 passes for 175 yards as West Liberty clinched the WVC title with a 48-21 win over Seton Hill. He also became the career leader in all-purpose yardage in West Liberty history with 4,865 yards. Taylor carried 37 times for 176 yards and three touchdowns in Wesleyan's 28-0 win over West Virginia State. The senior had rushing scores of 1, 13, and 58 yards.

Scott Sears of Glenville State and Mike Price of West Virginia Wesleyan split defensive player of the week honors.

Sears, a former Webster County standout, had seven tackles, including three for a loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, an interception and a pass breakup in Glenville's 14-12 upset of No. 19 Charleston. Price had three tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception in Wesleyan's first shutout since 1996.

Kaleb Lawrence of Glenville State was the special teams player of the week after preserving Glenville's win over UC with a blocked field goal on the game's final play. The senior linebacker also had 18 tackles and a pass breakup.    

UC's Predrag Ivanovic was named the WVC men's soccer player of the week after helping the Golden Eagles to a perfect 10-0-0 conference record and the regular-season WVC title. The sophomore scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Wesleyan and had two assists in a 6-1 rout of Shepherd.

Gemma Nortcliffe of Concord was named the women's soccer player of the week after tallying three goals and two assists in last Monday's 7-1 victory at Pitt Johnstown.

Defending West Virginia Conference men's basketball champion West Virginia State was voted the league's preseason No. 1 team Tuesday in a poll of league coaches.

The Yellow Jackets, who lost four starters from last year's team, will be led by senior guard Darren Jones.

West Liberty, Alderson-Broaddus and defending conference tournament champion Pitt Johnstown were voted in the No. 2, 3, and 4 spots while Charleston rounds out the top five.

The league's regular season opens Nov. 15.

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 WVC AWARDS: Eddie Hills of West Liberty and Reggie Taylor of West Virginia Wesleyan shared the West Virginia Conference football offensive player of the week award.

Hills caught 10 passes for 175 yards as West Liberty clinched the WVC title with a 48-21 win over Seton Hill. He also became the career leader in all-purpose yardage in West Liberty history with 4,865 yards. Taylor carried 37 times for 176 yards and three touchdowns in Wesleyan's 28-0 win over West Virginia State. The senior had rushing scores of 1, 13, and 58 yards.

Scott Sears of Glenville State and Mike Price of West Virginia Wesleyan split defensive player of the week honors.

Sears, a former Webster County standout, had seven tackles, including three for a loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, an interception and a pass breakup in Glenville's 14-12 upset of No. 19 Charleston. Price had three tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception in Wesleyan's first shutout since 1996.

Kaleb Lawrence of Glenville State was the special teams player of the week after preserving Glenville's win over UC with a blocked field goal on the game's final play. The senior linebacker also had 18 tackles and a pass breakup.    

UC's Predrag Ivanovic was named the WVC men's soccer player of the week after helping the Golden Eagles to a perfect 10-0-0 conference record and the regular-season WVC title. The sophomore scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Wesleyan and had two assists in a 6-1 rout of Shepherd.

Gemma Nortcliffe of Concord was named the women's soccer player of the week after tallying three goals and two assists in last Monday's 7-1 victory at Pitt Johnstown.

Amanda Check of Alderson-Broaddus recorded 49 kills and 41 digs in three victories to earn the volleyball player of the week honors.

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UC MEN RANKED: The University of Charleston men's soccer team was ranked No. 18 in Division II by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The West Virginia Conference regular-season champions (15-3-0, WVC 10-0-0) also jumped to third in the Atlantic Region ratings.

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WVU CROSS COUNTRY: The West Virginia women's team dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in the United States Track and Field and Cross County Association national poll. Clara Grandt led WVU to an overall second-place team finish last weekend at the Big East Championships in Milwaukee with an individual fifth-place showing.

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MU SOCCER: Marshall's Erika Duncan, Molly Snead and Sarah Vinson received Conference USA postseason awards Tuesday. Duncan and Snead each received all-conference second-team honors, while Vinson was named to the all-freshman team.

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MU GOLF: The Marshall women's team shot a two-day combined total of 615 and finished in sixth place at the UAB Blazer Fall Beach Blast in Golf Shores, Ala. Larie Lynch led the Thundering Herd, finishing in sixth place with a two-day total of 150. Memphis took the team title.

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PRE-SALE TICKETS: Tickets for Friday night's South Charleston at Riverside football game will be pre-sold in the Riverside school store Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets will be $4 for students/seniors and $5 for adults. All tickets at the gate will be $6.