ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? The Bradley volleyball was picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, the league office announced Thursday. The Braves received 25 points in the vote conducted by Valley coaches earlier this month.

Bradley returns eight letterwinners from last year's team which finished ninth in the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference standings last season. The Braves finished six points behind eighth-place Drake and just nine points back of Evansville, which was seventh in the preseason poll. Bradley is one of four league members with a new head coach heading into the 2008 season.

Wichita State is the favorite to win the league title after receiving four of 10 first-place votes and finished with 91 points. Northern Iowa was second with 84 points, including two first-place votes, and Creighton was third with 81 points despite receiving three first-place votes. Missouri State garnered the remaining first-place selection and was fourth in the poll with 73 points.

Illinois State rounded out the top half of the poll with 67 points and Southern Illinois followed in sixth with 52 points. Evansville (7th), Drake (8th) and Bradley (9th) were separated by just nine points, while Indiana State completed the poll in 10th place with 12 points.

The Braves open the 2008 season Friday, Aug. 29 in Missoula, Mont., at the Montana Tournament. Bradley will face Gonzaga at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) in the season opener next Friday and will also face UC Riverside and tournament-host Montana during the final day of tournament play on Saturday, Aug. 30. Bradley opens its home schedule Sept. 5 & 6 with the Wingate by Wyndham Invitational at the Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym. The two-day tournament will include three 20-win teams from last year in Wisconsin-Milwaukee, SIU-Edwardsville and Eastern Michigan.