Texas Volleyball Tips Off 2015 Season Ranked No. 3 in Country

By Steve Lansdale

The University of Texas Volleyball team once again tips off the season ranked among the elite programs in the entire nation, as the Longhorns have claimed the No. 3 spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Div. I Coaches Top 25 preseason poll.

The 2015 season is the fourth in a row in which the ’Horns have been ranked among the nation’s top three teams in the preseason. Texas began the last two seasons ranked second in the nation, after tipping off the 2012 season as the country’s top-ranked team. (Continue reading below...)

(...Continued from above.) In this year’s poll, the Longhorns are one of four teams to receive at least one first-place vote. Penn State, the defending national champion, claimed the top spot, pulling in 54 first-place votes and collecting 1,538 points. Stanford is second in the preseason poll, with six first-place votes and 1,468 points. Florida (1,338 points) is ranked fourth, and Nebraska and Wisconsin (1,275) tied for fifth; like Texas, Wisconsin earned one first-place vote.

The Texas schedule includes regular-season matches against six teams ranked in the preseason top 25: Florida, Nebraska, No. 12 Colorado State, No. 13 Oregon, No. 17 Arizona and No. 21 Iowa State.

Three returning Texas players earned AVCA All-America honors in 2014, including middle blocker Molly McCage, outside hitter Amy Neal and middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu, as well as opposite Ebony Nwanebu, a transfer from USC.

The Longhorns’ annual Orange-White scrimmage will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 22 at Gregory Gym, and will tip off its 2015 season Aug. 28 with the American Classic Classic, in which they will face ……………

2015 AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll (Aug. 12, 2015)

Rank  Team (First-Place Votes)    Points

1          Penn State (54)                    1,538

2          Stanford (6)                           1,468

3          TEXAS (1)                             1,384

4          Florida                                    1,338

T-5      Nebraska                               1,275

T-5      Wisconsin                             1,275

7          North Carolina                      1,158

8          Illinois                                    1,055

9          Florida State                         986

10        Washington                          953

11        BYU                                        919

12        Colorado State                     754

13        Oregon                                   722

14        Ohio State                             700

15        Kentucky                               603

16        Arizona State                        529

17        Arizona                                  498

18        Hawaii                                    401

19        Michigan State                     340

20        UCLA                                     316

21        Iowa State                             273

22        USC                                       255

23        Utah                                       211

24        Colorado                                188

25        Duke                                      168