BYU voted No. 6 in AVCA preseason poll

PROVO, Utah–BYU men’s volleyball was picked to finish No. 6 in the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Preseason Poll Wednesday.

BYU earned a 21-9 overall record and 18-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record in 2014. The team clinched back-to-back league regular-season and tournament titles, receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

The Cougars lost AVCA Player of the Year and four-time All-American Taylor Sander and senior middle blocker Devin Young to graduation after the 2014 season, but add six newcomers for 2015. Among the newcomers is Sander’s younger brother, Brenden Sander.

Conference foe Pepperdine, who tied BYU for the regular-season title in 2014, was voted No. 1, with NCAA champion Loyola-Chicago coming in at No. 2. Nine teams from the MPSF were voted into the top 15.

For a complete list of the preseason top-15 selections, visit the AVCA poll page.

BYU kicks off the season Jan. 9 against No. 9 Lewis in Stanford, California.