The final AVCA coaches’ poll for the 2019 season came out on Monday. Yes, it’s been a minute or two since Marquette volleyball was eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the second round, but the poll had to wait until the tournament was over. That happened on Saturday, as Stanford swept Wisconsin, 3-0, to win their second straight national championship.
Marquette wraps up the year ranked #20 in the country. It is the first season in program history where the Golden Eagles have been ranked in every single edition of the AVCA poll. Thus, it is also the first time in program history where Marquette has ended the season ranked lower in the AVCA poll than they were in the preseason poll. MU started off the campaign ranked #16 in the country back in August, eventually rising as high as #7 at one point after defeating then-#9 BYU and then-#4 Wisconsin in consecutive matches.
As the national runner-up, Wisconsin is the highest ranked team in the final poll that Marquette played this season, coming in at a rightfully deserved #2. Baylor, which fell to UW in the semifinals, comes in at #3. Creighton wrapped up the year at #16, with BYU right behind them at #17. UCF is the only MU opponent down in the receiving votes department, snagging three points to finish the season.
For now, we don’t know anything about the 2020 campaign. Marquette released the 2019 schedule in late May, so it might be a while before we know anything for sure. I think it’s safe to assume that head coach Ryan Theis will be scheduling as tough of a schedule as possible, because that’s how he handles his business. Whenever the schedule is officially announced, it will feature the return of Connecticut to the Big East, as well as the revelation of whether or not volleyball will be going to a 20 game schedule with an 11 team league.
You can check out the entire final poll of the year right here.