PULLMAN, Wash.
Washington State volleyball was picked to finish second
in the Preseason Pac-12 Coaches' Poll as announced by the league office Thursday. The Cougars also came in at No. 21 nationally in the first American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) Top-25 poll of the season which was announced by the NCAA Division I volleyball governing body on Tuesday.
The second-place
point tally was tied for Washington State's highest all-time preseason Pac-12 ranking the Cougars were also picked to finish second prior to the start of their elite eight runin 1996. Having taken over a Washington State squad that was picked to finish 12
th
in her first season on the sidelines as head coach, Jen Greeny led the Cougars to a third-place finish in the conference last year after posting a 14-6 league record.
Earlier this week, the AVCA released its annual preseason coaches' poll which saw Washington State fall in at No. 21 in the nation, the sixth-h
ighest preseason ranking all-time for the Cougs and the highest since being voted No. 18 in the 2021 preseason poll. The Cougs will see four top-25 teams during its non-conference schedule alone, including top-ranked Texas (Sept. 15), No. 4 Louisville (Aug. 26), No. 15 Baylor (Sept. 13), and 17
th
-ranked BYU (Sept. 8).
The
Cougs will open their 2023 campaign next week as they travel to Louisville, Ky., to play Wright State (Aug. 25), No. 4 Louisville (Aug. 26), and Troy (Aug. 27) to kick off nonconference play.
For all the latest WSU volleyball news,
photos and videos, like the team on Facebook (facebook.com/WSUCougarVB), orfollow on Twitter (@WSUCougarVB) and Instagram (@wsucougarvb).
2023 Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
|
Rk.
|
Team
|
Pts
|
|
1.
|
Stanford (11)
|
121
|
|
2.
|
Washington State
|
105
|
|
3.
|
Oregon (1)
|
103
|
|
4
|
USC
|
91
|
|
5.
|
UCLA
|
75
|
|
6.
|
Colorado
|
67
|
|
7.
|
Washington
|
62
|
|
8.
|
Arizona
|
54
|
|
9.
|
Utah
|
49
|
|
10.
|
Arizona State
|
28
|
|
11.
|
Oregon State
|
23
|
|
12.
|
California
|
14
|
2023 AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
|
Rk
|
School (1st-place voets)
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Texas (44)
|
1564
|
|
2
|
Wisconsin (7)
|
1489
|
|
3
|
Stanford (13)
|
1449
|
|
4
|
Louisville
|
1388
|
|
5
|
Nebraska
|
1294
|
|
5
|
Pittsburgh
|
1294
|
|
7
|
Minnesota
|
1105
|
|
8
|
Penn State
|
1091
|
|
9
|
Oregon
|
1067
|
|
10
|
Kentucky
|
899
|
|
11
|
Florida
|
841
|
|
12
|
Marquette
|
768
|
|
13
|
San Diego
|
760
|
|
14
|
Ohio State
|
745
|
|
15
|
Baylor
|
694
|
|
16
|
Purdue
|
644
|
|
17
|
BYU
|
617
|
|
18
|
Creighton
|
546
|
|
19
|
Houston
|
421
|
|
20
|
Georgia Tech
|
394
|
|
21
|
Washington State
|
359
|
|
22
|
Southern California
|
204
|
|
23
|
Rice
|
192
|
|
24
|
Western Kentucky
|
181
|
|
25
|
Arkansas
|
122
|
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots
: Kansas 99; Tennessee 84; Washington 63; Auburn 62; UCF 53; Hawai'i 49; Miami (FL) 45; Georgia 35; LSU 28; TCU 20; Illinois 18; Utah 18; Iowa State 14; Loyola Marymount 14; Pepperdine 14; Florida State 12; James Madison 5.