AVCA Poll
STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford women's volleyball team will begin the 2018 season on top of the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll. It is the 70th No. 1 ranking all-time for the program.
Stanford has been ranked in every AVCA preseason poll since its inception in 1982, and is No. 1 to start the season for the first time since 2002. The Cardinal, which received 43 first-place votes, returns five starters plus its libero from last year's NCAA semifinal team. Stanford is one of two teams to appear in all 37 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournaments.
Stanford returns 14 letterwinners to its roster from the 2017 team, including AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer. Joining Plummer on the AVCA All-America first team a year ago were setter Jenna Gray and libero Morgan Hentz. Junior Audriana Fitzmorris was a second team All-American in 2017, while senior Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list.
2017 NCAA champion Nebraska was No. 2 in the poll, collecting 20 first-place votes. Rounding out the top 5 were Texas, Minnesota and Kentucky. Overall seven Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 25. Joining Stanford in the top 10 is No. 10 USC, while UCLA (11), Colorado (15), Washington (17), Oregon (18) and Utah (19) all sit in the top 20.
The Cardinal is scheduled to play 17 regular-season matches against top-25 teams. No. 8 BYU is the first ranked team on the slate as Stanford will make the trip to Provo on Aug. 31. The Cardinal will also play host to No. 6 Penn State (Sept. 7), No. 4 Minnesota (Sept. 9) and No. 3 Texas (Sept. 11) over a five-day span.
Stanford opens the 2018 season on the road at American on Aug. 26. Tickets for the Cardinal's 13 home matches are on sale now at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.