Defending Champs

STANFORD, Calif. – Defending Pac-12 champion Stanford was selected by the conference coaches as the favorite to win the conference crown, the Pac-12 announced today. The Cardinal has won eight of the last 12 conference championships.

Stanford, which received 11 first-place votes, totaled 121 points. USC, which picked up the remaining first-place vote, was second with 100 points, followed by Oregon (96) and UCLA (90).  Rounding out the top half of the poll were Colorado (89) and Washington (73).

Washington State totaled 64 points to take seventh, followed by Utah (47), Arizona (46), Oregon State (27), Arizona State (24) and California (15).

Stanford, which has captured 17 Pac-12 championships since 1986, has finished in the top 3 in the conference in 30 of 32 seasons. The coaches have correctly chosen the champion 18 times out of the past 32 polls.

Stanford returns six starters from last season's squad, which went 30-4 overall and advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the 21st time in program history. Among the returners are reigning AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer and AVCA First Team All-Americans Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz. Junior Audriana Fitzmorris was a second team pick in 2017, while senior Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list.

Fitzmorris, Gray, Hentz and Plummer all earned spots on the 14-member Preseason All-Pac-12 squad. Stanford led all teams with four selections. Colorado, Oregon and UCLA each had two players selected.

Stanford opens its season on Sunday, Aug. 26 at American. In five of its first nine matches, the Cardinal will face preseason top 10 opponents – No. 8  BYU (Aug. 31), No. 6 Penn State (Sept. 7), No. 4 Minnesota (Sept. 9), and No. 3 Texas twice (Sept. 11 and Sept. 14).

Following are the complete results of the preseason coaches' poll and the preseason All-Pac-12 team. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players (first-place votes in parentheses).
 

2018 Pac-12 Coaches' Poll

2018 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team