Marquette Volleyball Receives Votes In AVCA Preseason Poll

The American Volleyball Coaches' Association released their preseason Top 25 today.  The Marquette Golden Eagles racked up 102 points in the balloting, landing them 27 points and four spots outside #25.

Marquette finished last year at #23 after entering the Top 25 for the first time in program history on November 25th.  Head coach Bond Shymansky departed for Iowa in the offseason, and Marquette lost Elizabeth Koberstein, the 2013 Big East Player of the Year, and Julie Jeziorowski, MU's all time digs leader, to the end of their eligibility.  That's three significant losses, but even with taking that into account, MU only slipped seven slots in the rankings based on the talent of the hitters that Marquette has returning this fall.

We'll get an early read on whether Marquette deserves to be ranked, as the third match of the year comes against #18 Colorado State in a tournament that the Rams are hosting.  All told, Marquette will see seven teams that received votes in the preseason poll. #10 Florida, #13 Florida State, the aforementioned #18 Rams, two games against #23 Creighton as a part of Big East play, and #24 American University are all on the schedule, as are Texas-San Antonio, who had three points, and California-Santa Barbara, who had 26 points.

Marquette will open their season on August 30 against UCSB as a part of the tournament that Colorado State is hosting.