Six Pac-12 volleyball teams ranked in AVCA preseason poll
SAN FRANCISCO – Six Pac-12 women’s volleyball teams are ranked in the first American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 of the 2021 campaign, which was revealed Monday. The Conference’s half-dozen programs in the preseason poll are tied for the most among all leagues.
Defending Conference champion WASHINGTON, which is coming off the fifth NCAA Final Four appearance in program history, checks in at No. 4. The Huskies are followed by No. 14 OREGON, No. 17 UCLA, No. 18 WASHINGTON STATE, No. 19 UTAH and No. 21 STANFORD among Pac-12 schools in the initial rankings. USC and ARIZONA are receiving votes.
Pac-12 institutions have won 17 of the 40 all-time NCAA championships in women’s volleyball, five more than the next closest conference, and four of the past 10. The Conference has had at least five teams earn NCAA Tournament bids in 22 consecutive seasons and boasts eight postseason berths in five of the past eight tournaments.
The Pac-12 returns six first and second-team AVCA All-Americans from a season ago, including 2020 Conference award winners in Player of the Year Dani Drews (UTAH) and Setter of the Year Ella May Powell (WASHINGTON). All-Americans Samantha Drechsel and Claire Hoffman are also back for UW, along with UCLA’s Mac May and OREGON’s Brooke Nuneviller.
The regular season begins on Friday, Aug. 27, with all 12 Conference teams in action. The league's teams will be featured 110 times this season across Pac-12 Networks and the new, free streaming channel, Pac-12 Insider.
On opening night, both of OREGON’s matches against Portland State and Santa Clara Pepperdine at USC and Fresno State at OREGON matches can be seen on Pac-12 Insider. Pac-12 Insider is available on Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app, as well as eight partner platforms, including Local Now, Redbox, Samsung TV Plus, Sling, Sportstribal, The Roku Channel, Vizio and Xumo.
2021 AVCA PRESEASON POLL
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Total Points |
| 1. | Texas (32) | 1561 |
| 2. | Wisconsin (15) | 1522 |
| 3. | Kentucky (17) | 1435 |
| 4. | WASHINGTON | 1355 |
| 5. | Nebraska | 1346 |
| 6. | Florida | 1275 |
| 7. | Minnesota | 1130 |
| 8. | Purdue | 1096 |
| 9. | Pittsburgh | 1085 |
| 10. | Baylor | 1000 |
| 11. | Ohio State | 981 |
| 12. | Penn State | 902 |
| 13. | Louisville | 806 |
| 14. | OREGON | 776 |
| 15. | BYU | 734 |
| 16. | Western Kentucky | 553 |
| 17. | UCLA | 496 |
| 18. | WASHINGTON STATE | 431 |
| 19. | UTAH | 398 |
| 20. | San Diego | 319 |
| 21. | STANFORD | 264 |
| 22. | Pepperdine | 234 |
| 23. | Rice | 223 |
| 24. | Georgia Tech | 193 |
| 25. | Notre Dame | 157 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: USC 105; Creighton 69; Missouri 51; Hawai'i 47; LSU 41; UNLV 33; Michigan 28; Marquette 27; Dayton 25; Kansas State 13; Tennessee 13; Kansas 11; Texas State 11; Illinois 9; ARIZONA 8; UC San Diego 8; Wright State 5; Cal Poly 4; Arkansas 2.