Coaches Pick Cougars Sixth

LEXINGTON -- With the 2010 season almost underway, the BYU men's volleyball team has been voted sixth in the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Top 15 Poll released Tuesday.

Since finishing the 2009 season with a 17-13 record and No. 7 national ranking, the Cougars return all their starters, including six seniors. The preseason went well for BYU, as it posted wins over Long Beach State, Grand Canyon, Long Beach City College, Arizona and Utah Valley.

One year removed from a 21-11 record and loss in the national championship match, USC debuts the 2010 season as the No. 1 team in the nation with 237 poll votes, including 13 first-place votes. The defending NCAA champion, UC Irvine, landed three first-place votes in the poll to earn the No. 2 ranking.

Stanford, Pepperdine and Penn State claim the third, fourth and fifth spots, followed by sixth-place BYU. Long Beach State, UCLA, Cal State Northridge and Ohio State round out the top 10.

The AVCA releases a weekly national poll throughout the regular season.

The Cougars open the 2010 season at the UC Santa Barbara Elephant Bar Tournament on Jan. 8-9 and will face UC Irvine in the first round. This will mark the second consecutive year the Cougars begin their season at the tournament.

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AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Top 15 Poll
Preseason Poll: December 29, 2009
Rank    School (1st Place Votes)    Total Points   2009 Record   2009 Final Rank
1       Southern California (13)    237            21-11         2
2       UC Irvine (3)               218            28-5          1
3       Stanford                    202            21-11         6
4       Pepperdine                  186            22-5          3
5       Penn State                  175            27-4          5 
6       BYU                         160            17-13         7
7       Long Beach State            150            14-14         8
8       UCLA                        136            14-16         9
9       Cal State Northridge        112            24-7          4
10      Ohio State                  101            16-12         10
11      Ball State                  73             18-10         13
12      Hawai’i                     59             9-18          15
13      UC San Diego                57             13-15         11
T-14    Lewis                       29             21-8          12
T-14    UC Santa Barbara            29             8-19          NR
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots:  Loyola-Chicago 7; Saint Francis 7.