The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women’s volleyball team has been selected to repeat as AMCC champions, conference officials announced Tuesday.

“We’re honored and proud to be voted the AMCC preseason No. 1 team, but this is a new year with a pretty much new team that will have to go out and prove itself,” Pitt-Bradford coach Tom Roof, the 2016 AMCC Coach of the Year, said.

“What’s encouraging, though, is that this group is ready to take to the court and do just that, showing that it’s worthy of its ranking.”

Pitt-Bradford looks to continue its success from 2016, a season in which it went 25-6 and a perfect 9-0 in AMCC play.

The Panthers swept the AMCC Tournament, 3-0, in both the semifinals and championship matches and continued on to the NCAA tournament first round against the second-seeded Calvin.

The Panthers will field a young team this season with seven returners and 15 newcomers.

Leading all returners are the Panthers’ two seniors, Erin Fagan and Emily Reitz. Fagan, a from Waverly, N.Y., finished third on the team with 160 kills in 2016, while adding 24 blocks, 90 digs and 21 aces.

Reitz, from Punxsutawney, tied for second on the team with 275 digs and finished with the second-best digs per set mark a 3.13.

New on Roof’s squad this year are a pair of area graduates, Ally Easton and Kamryn Piscitelli. Easton, a Coudersport alumna, helped lead the Lady Falcons to the PIAA state semifinals last fall after being named the District 9 MVP.

Piscitelli, from Bradford High, was a three-year letterwinner and a 2016 District 9 all-star. Courtney Holzwarth, a junior, is another Bradford High product on the roster.

Pitt-Bradford begins the 2017 season at the Greyhound Premiere Invitational hosted by Moravian. The four-game showcase will be made up of a pair of doubleheaders on Sep. 1 and 2, the first match of the season against York (Pa.) at 4 p.m.

The first action at the KOA Arena will be Wednesday, Sept. 6 as the Panthers play host to Elmira at 7 p.m.