STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford beach volleyball program will begin its 2018 campaign ranked 17th, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Tuesday in its annual preseason poll. The Cardinal finished the 2017 season unranked.
USC earned the top spot in the poll, followed by Pepperdine, UCLA, Florida State and Hawai'i. Overall, five Pac-12 Conference teams are ranked in the top 25 -- No. 17 Stanford, No. 1 USC, No. 3 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona and No. 19 Washington. Arizona State, California and Oregon received votes.
Stanford returns 10 of 14 student-athletes from last year's roster, adding freshmen Amelia Smith, Sunny Villapando, Kate Formico and Blake Sharp to the 2018 squad.
The Cardinal is scheduled to play 13 of its 27 regular season matches against teams ranked in the AVCA's initial rankings. Stanford opens the season with a pair of matches against top-5 opponents in No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 Hawai'i when it competes in the Rainbow Wahine Classic this weekend in Honolulu, Hawai'i.