Volleyball

Huskers No. 1 in USA Today/AVCA Coaches Preseason Poll

Lincoln -- The Nebraska volleyball team, the defending NCAA Division I national volleyball champion, was voted an overwhelming favorite by Division I coaches to capture its second straight title in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll released Tuesday. The Huskers, 34-0 last season, earned 63 of 65 first-place votes in the preseason poll and outdistanced second-place Southern California by a 1,623-1,472 margin (151 points). Penn State, Wisconsin and Hawaii rounded out the top five.

Nebraska returns AVCA National Player of the Year Greichaly Cepero, AVCA First-Team All-American Laura Pilakowski and AVCA Second-Team All-America selection Amber Holmquist. NU also returns the services of two-time AVCA All-American Nancy Metcalf (formerly Meendering), who sat out last season after training with the U.S. National Team leading up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Jenny Kropp, a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2000.

USC, which went 29-3 last season and reached the NCAA semifinals, returns two AVCA All-America Second-Team picks in April Ross and Jennifer Pahl. Penn State, the Big Ten Preseason favorite, was selected third in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll after finishing last year with a 30-6 mark. The Nittany Lions return six starters from the 2000 campaign, including second-team AVCA All-American Mishka Levy.

Wisconsin earned the fourth spot in the preseason poll with 1,320 points. Hawaii was fifth in the poll with 1,261 points. Arizona was picked sixth, UCLA was voted seventh, Long Beach State was eighth, Florida was ninth and Stanford was tabbed 10th.

The 2001 season opens Aug. 24-25 with the 2001 State Farm/NACWAA Volleyball Classic at Stockton, Calif. The tournament features three teams listed among the top five of the 2001 USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll. Nebraska faces Hawaii at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25. Wisconsin challenges tournament host Pacific, ranked 12th in the preseason poll, at 9 p.m. in the second match of the day. The tournament consolation match begins at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25, while the championship match is scheduled for 9 p.m. All four matches will air in delayed broadcasts on ESPN2.

USA TODAY/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25
Preseason Poll, August 13, 2001

Rank

School (First-Place Votes)

Total Points

2000 Record

Final Poll

1

Nebraska (63)

1623

34-0

1

2

USC (2)

1472

29-3

4

3

Penn State

1374

30-6

6

4

Wisconsin*

1320

33-5

2

5

Hawaii*

1261

31-2

3

6

Arizona

1178

28-5

5

7

UCLA*

1098

25-8

7

8

Long Beach State*

1091

24-8

14

9

Florida

1084

29-5

12

10

Stanford

1017

19-12

19

11

BYU

989

26-7

13

12

Pacific*

950

28-4

8

13

UC Santa Barbara*

882

26-8

9

14

Colorado State

866

32-5

10

15

Minnesota

724

30-4

11

16

Ohio State

638

26-7

15

17

Pepperdine*

606

24-7

18

18

Texas A&M*

481

20-9

23

19

Kansas State*

354

22-9

16

20

Notre Dame*

278

26-7

21

21

Utah

254

23-8

20

22

Santa Clara

232

27-5

17

23

South Carolina

172

22-7

NR

24

Loyola Marymount

155

20-9

25

25

Georgia Tech

123

25-8

NR


Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Louisville (112), Missouri (109)*, Colorado (108)*, Washington State (102), Michigan State (88), North Carolina (62), Northern Iowa (58), Utah State (33), Michigan (26), Texas Tech (20)*, San Diego (18), South Florida (17), Tennessee (16), Arizona State (15), Baylor (14)*, Duke (13), Arkansas (12), Florida State (11), Western Michigan (9), Fairfield (8), Cal Poly (8), Northern Arizona (5), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (4), San Jose State (3).

*Denotes 2001 Nebraska opponents