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On Monday, the AVCA released their final coaches poll for the 2018 volleyball season, and YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles are riding into the offseason on a high note.
Marquette is ranked #15 in this edition of the poll following Stanford winning the national championship on Saturday night. MU slots into the rankings with 689 points, trailing behind #14 Pittsburgh with 709 points and leading #16 Washington State with 668 points.
Their #15 ranking is the sixth time in the 2018 campaign that Marquette has reached an all-new record high in the AVCA poll, topping the previous best of #16 in the November 19th poll. Well, technically. FUN FACT: The AVCA released a new poll on November 26th, the day after the NCAA tournament field was announced and we missed that poll being released in the hullabaloo of the Golden Eagles earning the first national tournament seed in program history. Turns out that MU hit that new high of #15 in that November 26th poll and Monday’s appearance in that same spot is merely a tip of the cap to Marquette for reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
While Marquette loses two starters from this team in Jenna Rosenthal and Anna Haak, I think it’s reasonable to think that finishing 2018 at #15 is a notification that MU will start 2019 somewhere in the top 25. Marquette returns their other four starters, including AVCA Second Team All-American Allie Barber at outside hitter, as well as AVCA All-American Honorable Mention libero Martha Konovodoff. That’s a pretty loaded up roster that will be looking to build off of the best season in program history that ended with a record of 28-7, the most wins by the program since making the move to Division 1 in the early 1980s.
In 2019, Marquette will be aiming to reach their program record ninth consecutive NCAA tournament as well as upend Creighton from their spot as the champion of the Big East after five straight league titles. Only eight months to go before the season starts......