August 13, 2001
The Texas A&M volleyball team is ranked 18th in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, released Monday.
The Aggies return six starters, including 2000 all-Central Region and all-Big 12 selections Jenna Moscovic and Erin Lechler, from last year’s team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished 23rd in the final poll with a 20-9 record. In addition, ninth-year A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli returns five other letterwinners and has added a heralded recruiting class that was ranked 10th in the nation by Volleyball Magazine. Defending Big 12 and national champion Nebraska is picked No. 1 in the preseason poll, receiving 63 of 65 first-place votes. The Huskers, who visit the Aggies on Oct. 13, return National Player of the Year Greichaly Cepero, All-America first-team member Laura Pilakowski and All-America second-team selection Amber Holmquist. In addition, Nebraska returns two-time All-American Nancy (Meendering) Metcalf, who sat out last season after training with the U.S. National Team.
USC, Penn St, Wisconsin and Hawai'i round out the top 5 in the preseason poll. Stanford, who plays Texas A&M at G. Rollie White Coliseum on Sept. 8, is ranked No. 10.
In addition to Nebraska and Texas A&M, Big 12 foe Kansas State is listed No. 19. Conference members Missouri (27th), Colorado (28th), Texas Tech (35th) and Baylor (40th) all received points.
Florida State, who the Aggies host on Sept. 7, also received points and is ranked No. 43.
Overall, the Aggies are scheduled to play 14 matches against teams ranked or mentioned in the preseason poll. A&M plays its season opener against Sanford on August 31 at the Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational in Houston. The Aggies open their home schedule on Sept. 4 against Texas-San Antonio.
The following is the complete USA Today/AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll with first-place votes in parentheses:
Total 2000 Final
Rk School Points Record Poll
1 Nebraska (63) 1623 34-0 1
2 USC (2) 1472 29-3 4
3 Penn State 1374 30-6 6
4 Wisconsin 1320 33-5 2
5 Hawai'i 1261 31-2 3
6 Arizona 1178 28-5 5
7 UCLA 1098 25-8 7
8 Long Beach State 1091 24-8 14
9 Florida 1084 29-5 12
10 Stanford 1017 19-12 19
11 BYU 989 26-7 13
12 Pacific 950 28-4 8
13 UC Santa Barbara 882 26-8 9
14 Colorado State 866 32-5 10
15 Minnesota 724 30-4 11
16 Ohio State 638 26-7 15
17 Pepperdine 606 24-7 18
18 Texas A&M 481 20-9 23
19 Kansas State 354 22-9 16
20 Notre Dame 278 26-7 21
21 Utah 254 23-8 20
22 Santa Clara 232 27-5 17
23 South Carolina 172 22-7 --
24 Loyola Marymount 155 20-9 25
25 Georgia Tech 123 25-8 --
Others receiving points and listed on two or
more ballots: Louisville (112), Missouri (109),
Colorado (108), Washington State (102), Michigan
State (88), North Carolina (62), Northern Iowa
(58), Utah State (33), Michigan (26), Texas
Tech (20), University of San Diego (18), South
Florida (17), Tennessee (16), Arizona State (15),
Baylor (14), Duke (13), Arkansas (12), Florida
State (11), Western Michigan (9), Fairfield (8),
Cal Poly (8), Northern Arizona (5), Wisconsin-
Milwaukee (4), San Jose State (3).