NCAA | Washington volleyball ranked 14th in first preseason poll

Huskies’ 2012 schedule includes 11 matches against Top 25 teams, plus 3 matches against teams rated 26-35

Washington setter Jenni Nogueras
-Volleyblog Seattle photo
by Leslie Hamann

In their first poll of the 2012 season, Division 1 coaches rank Washington the 14^th best team in the nation. The weekly poll is conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Practices for all NCAA Division 1 teams began last Wednesday; the first matches won’t be played until the end of next week.

Six traditional powers dominate the top of the poll, including three Pac-12 schools, among them defending national champion UCLA (#1), USC (5) and Stanford (6). Texas is ranked 2nd, Penn State 3rd and Nebraska 4th.

2011 NCAA runner-up Illinois is ranked 7^th. Hawai’i—moving this season to the Big West Conference is ranked 8^th. Purdue—whom Washington plays in Baton Rouge on August 31—is ninth. And Iowa State is 10^th.

Of the 29 matches on Washington’s schedule, 14 are against teams in the top 35, including two each against UCLA (rated  #1), USC (5), Stanford (6), California (17) and Oregon (20), plus one each against Purdue (9), Long Beach State (26), LSU (33) and Arizona (35).

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Total Points	2011 Record	Final 2011
1	UCLA (54)	1485	30-6	1
2	Texas (1)	1341	25-5	4
3	Penn State	1302	25-8	9
4	Nebraska (1)	1281	25-5	12
5	Southern California (1)	1233	29-5	3
6	Stanford (3)	1197	22-8	14
7	Illinois	1163	30-5	2
8	Hawai'i	989	31-2	5
9	Purdue	935	29-5	10
10	Iowa State	886	25-6	8
11	Pepperdine	801	25-7	6
12	Florida State	770	28-7	7
13	Kentucky	724	28-6	13
14	Washington	677	24-8	17
15	Tennessee	652	28-4	19
16	Minnesota	616	20-12	15
17	California	583	26-7	16
18	Florida	543	27-6	11
19	San Diego	476	28-5	T-20
20	Oregon	366	21-10	24
21	Northern Iowa	286	33-2	18
22	Kansas State	246	22-11	22
23	Michigan	210	22-13	T-20
24	Ohio State	163	20-15	23
25	Colorado State	136	24-6	25

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON VOLLEYBALL

2012 SCHEDULE

as of August 13, 2012

DAY	DATE	LOCAL TIME	OPPONENT	LOCATION
NORTHWEST CHALLENGE
Friday	Aug 24	4:30PM	Gonzaga vs. Portland State	Seattle
		7:00PM	Boise State @ Washington
Saturday	Aug 25	10:00AM	Portland State vs. Boise State
		12:00PM	Gonzaga @ Washington
		4:30PM	Boise State vs. Gonzaga
		7:00PM	Portland State @ Washington
LSU TOURNAMENT
Friday	Aug 31	12:00PM	vs. Purdue	Baton Rouge, LA
		7:00PM	@ LSU
Saturday	Sep 1	11:00AM	vs. Rice
THE INVITATIONAL AT SEATTLE
Thursday	Sep 6	7:00PM	Seattle U @ Washington	Seattle (UW)
Friday	Sep 7	7:00PM	Long Beach State @ Washington
Saturday	Sep 8	7:00PM	Long Beach State @ Seattle U	Seattle (SU)
NONCONFERENCE
Tuesday	Sep 11	7:00PM	@ Portland	Portland
PAC-12
Tuesday	Sep 18		Washington State	Seattle
Saturday	Sep 22		@ Arizona	Tucson
Wednesday	Sep 26		UCLA	Seattle
Friday	Sep 28		USC	Seattle
Friday	Oct 5	8:30PM	@ Utah	Salt Lake City
Sunday	Oct 7	3:00PM	@ Colorado	Boulder
Friday	Oct 12		@ Oregon State	Corvallis
Saturday	Oct 13		@ Oregon	Eugene
Friday	Oct 19		Stanford	Seattle
Sunday	Oct 21		California	Seattle
Friday	Oct 26	`	@ USC	Los Angeles
Sunday	Oct 28		@ UCLA	Los Angeles
Friday	Nov 2		Colorado	Seattle
Sunday	Nov 4		Utah	Seattle
Wednesday	Nov 7		@ California	Berkeley
Thursday	Nov 8		@ Stanford	Palo Alto
Friday	Nov 16		Oregon	Seattle
Saturday	Nov 17		Oregon State	Seattle
Wednesday	Nov 21		Arizona State	Seattle
Friday	Nov 23		@ Washington State	Pullman
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Thu-Sat	Nov 29- Dec 2		NCAA 1st/2nd Rounds	TBA
Fri-Sat	Dec 7 & Dec 8		NCAA Regionals	Berkeley, CA Austin, TX Lincoln, NE W Lafayette, IN
Thu-Sat	Dec 13 & Dec 15		NCAA Championships	Louisville, KY