PRINCETON — Last week’s column ended with Concord women’s soccer information; this week’s will focus on Concord men’s soccer and volleyball information.

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As for the men, they have  been picked to finish in a tie for eighth place in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season in the preseason coaches’ poll.

Defending champion Charleston was chosen as the favorite to win the league with 98 points (eight first-place votes). West Virginia Wesleyan was picked second with 88 points (two first-place votes), followed by Davis & Elkins (79 points), Wheeling Jesuit (73 points), Seton Hill (59 points), Shepherd (48 points), Pitt-Johnstown (33 points) with Concord and Alderson-Broaddus in a tie for eighth place (29 points). Ohio Valley was slotted 10th (14 points).

The Mountain Lions will begin their fifth season since the program was brought back to life in 2008. Head coach Steve Barrett is at the helm again this season with many new faces to lead. This season’s squad yields 17 newcomers and 10 returners, giving CU plenty of young talent mixed with experienced players.

Leading the way for Concord this season will be sophomore Caleb Bone, who started and played in 15 games last year. He was second on the team in goals with four on 28 shots; three of those being game-winning shots. Bone earned honorable mention All-WVIAC honors in 2011. Sophomore Jacob Wise played in 18 games, starting in six matches. He scored two goals on 14 shots. Sebastian Escobar is a junior midfielder that took 17 shots and also notched an assist during the season.

Two other returners will be a help to this season as well. Senior Ryne Shuff ended the 2011 season with 12 shots including seven shots on goal in 18 appearances. Junior midfielder Tyler Farrar started 14 of 17 games played, ranking fourth on the team with 26 shots and second with 18 shots on goal.

In the goal, be on the lookout for senior Matt Hamilton who played in 14 contests in 2011. He racked up 36 saves with a save percentage of .581 and a goals against average of 2.24. Also returning on defense are sophomores Cole Cloonan and Cameron Russell.

The incoming freshman class is busting with talent. Barrett and graduate assistant Chris Limle gained recruits from all over the map who excelled in high school and on the club level. The new class should help boost the Mountain Lions record this season and for years to come.

The 2012 recruiting class features two forwards (Deni Deyanov and Isaac Jordan), seven midfielders (Brandon Barrett (the coach’s son), Ryan Forde, Adam Johnson, Kris Robins, Troy Silva, Joe Sweet, Osbert Tuffour), six defenders (Patrick Ebbs, Matthew Guilliams, Tyler Harris, Cameron Janney, Jacob Straub, Alex Williams) and one goalie (Mitchell Thompson). Liam Thornhill will see time on in the midfield and as a defender.

Last season ended with a record of 3-16, 2-8 for CU putting them in ninth place overall in the WVIAC. Concord lost six matches by just one goal.

CU’s 2012 season opener is scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 31 against Trevecca Nazarene in New Concord, Ohio.

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The Concord University volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday on Day 1 of the Millersville Marauder Clash at Millersville University in Millersville, Pa. The Mountain Lions began the day with a 3-1 loss vs. Quincy before rebounding to knock off Millersville, 3-2, in a five-set thriller.

Concord (1-1) dropped the opening two sets of the season to Quincy (2-0) 25-20, 25-17, but was able to win the third set 25-16. However, CU’s comeback bid was denied after Quincy took the fourth, and deciding set, 25-17.

Concord then jumped right back into action when it came away with the 3-2 (25-21, 15-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-9) win against tournament-host Millersville.

The sophomore duo of Sarah Jones and Brytni Willis paced Concord vs. Millersville. Jones posted a team-high 13 kills to go with 12 digs, three blocks and two aces. Willis added 10 kills and a team-best three aces.

Sophomore Nikki McMillan guided the offense with 17 assists. Fellow classmates Whytni Willis and Amanda Walker both added eight assists of their own.

Junior Jasmin Sutherland chipped in eight kills while freshman Dabbrielle Stevens had a six-block match. Lindsey Smith produced a team-high 15 digs on the night.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams tied 19-19 before Concord went on a 6-2 run led by two kills from Jones to win the set 25-21.

Things looked bleak for the Mountain Lions after they lost the second and third sets, 25-15 and 25-14, but Concord did not quit. CU jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the fourth set on its way to a 25-20 victory to tie the match at 2-2 heading into the fifth and final set.

Jones provided an early spark in the fifth with three kills to help get Concord out to a 9-4 lead. From there, a kill and ace by Walker mixed with kills from Stevens and Sutherland as well as two Marauder attack errors gave The Mountain Lions the 15-9 victory and its first win of the year.

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As for the last game in the “Friends of Coal Bowl” series between WVU and Marshall, let’s give the WVU offense the praise it’s due, but remain cautious over a defense which has allowed 33 and 34 points in its last two games. WVU does that against Texas or Oklahoma, and it’ll be a long day for them, because those teams won’t give up 70 points on defense.

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I know the unofficial rule is “no cheering in the press box,” but I’ve seen too much of the down side of Concord football to not be excited about this year. Everything just might fall into place this year.

Hopefully, Zach Grossi will stay healthy, since he doesn’t have a proven back-up, and Chris Rodriquez, Andrew Gonchar, Ben Nester or whomever will have to become a heavy-duty running back. Andrew Linder must replace the graduated Rashid Baker as Grossi’s “safety-valve” receiver. Ryan Stewart should continue his freshman performance. Ansel Ponder has shown great the talent in Division I as a wide receiver.

With all of these resources in place, if good chemistry develops between Grossi and center Chad Smith, the team identifies a reliable place-kicker and the defensive core stays healthy, I think Concord could be looking at a banner year on the gridiron.

I know it’s a lot of “ifs,” but Concord has more viable options than ever before.

On Saturday, Concord looked a bit shaky before regrouping in the second half as Grossi, Lilly, Marion and Rodriquez all had solid efforts. I think the 55-minute delay due to weather affected Concord’s overall timing in the first half.

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As for the NFC East, one would hardly know that the New York Giants are World Champions from their press coverage. No big-name newcomers, no ESPN camping out for a week, no training camp news, just a solid team that may just surprise us all with another strong run for a Super Bowl. Eli Manning is now in the “elite” class of quarterbacks and, save for a few injuries, the Giants have no real gaping holes.

Last year’s lockout and shortened pre-season hurt the Philadelphia Eagles as much as anyone, since they couldn’t mesh their talent together effectively. This year, I think the talent will be working together much better, and they’ll push the Giants all the way

The Dallas Cowboys would be better if they had a real general manager, not an owner playing at general manager. It may be time to trade away the good veteran talent like Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware and build for the future, that is, if Jerry Jones would just sign paychecks and stop making the trades.

As bad as Jones has been in recent years, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has been worse. The Redskins have been in chaos for years, with a head coach still trying to prove he can win without John Elway being his starting quarterback. I like Robert Griffin III, but he may be in worse situation than Andrew Luck is as a rookie quarterback.

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The NFC North may be the best division with the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions all viable playoff contenders.

Green Bay has the best quarterback in the division in Aaron Rodgers and the best receiving corps. The key to their success will be how they filled in tthe cracks in defense around star performers Clay Matthews, B.J. Rahji and Charles Woodson.

Chicago added two receivers, young veteran Brandon Marshall, who was Jay Cutler’s go-to guy in Denver, and rookie Alston Jeffrey and a second running back on offense. Depending on Brian Urlacher’s health, they could have the best defense in the division.

Detroit doesn’t have Green Bay’s or Chicago’s depth, which means that star performers (Matthew Stafford) have to remain healthy and they had a turbulent off-season. Like Rex Ryan with the Jets, Jim Schwartz affects his team’s mood with his own to an inordinate degree. In other words, he needs to calm down so that his team can do so.

The Minnesota Vikings have the weakest quarterback in the division, along with a star running back coming back from a major knee injury and an aging defense. They’ll finish fourth.

Let me know what you think by writing me c/o Jeff’s Sports Corner, P.O. Box 1199, Princeton, WV, 24740. I can also be reached at delimartman@yahoo.com or jharvey1@frontiernet.net or on Facebook.