August 12, 2003
The Texas A&M volleyball team received points and is listed No. 31 in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, released Monday.
"This is a start for us, and we are ok with it," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It pushes us to set out and prove that we are better than that. We put the pressure on ourselves, but we don't put a lot of importance on the preseason poll; it's the final poll that matters."
Defending national champion USC, which plays at A&M on Sept. 13, is the top ranked team, receiving 64 of 65 first-place votes. Hawaii received the other first-place vote and is No. 2. Florida, Stanford and Pepperdine round out the top five.
The Big 12 Conference is represented by four teams in the Top 25, led by five-time defending league champion Nebraska at No. 7. Kansas State is No. 15, followed by Missouri and Texas at No. 21 and No. 23, respectively.
"Having that many teams from the Big 12 in the Top 25 helps so much with our strength of schedule," Corbelli said. "It also helps us become a better team, because we are preparing to go up against a top 25 team every week. The Big 12 is one of the top three volleyball conferences in the nation, and I wouldn't want it any other way."
The Aggies are slated to play 10 matches against teams ranked in the Top 25 preseason poll, including No. 1 USC. The Trojans, who are coached by former University of Texas and Olympic coach Mick Haley, eliminated A&M in the second round of the 2002 NCAA tournament.
The Aggies play eight matches against ranked Big 12 teams and also face No. 22 Louisville in a non-conference match at the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge on Sept. 5 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Aggies were ranked No. 17 in last year's preseason poll despite losing five starters from the 2001 Elite Eight team. They fell out of the poll on Oct. 14 after a historic run of 111 consecutive appearances in the top 25.
This year, A&M returns five starters from the 2002 team that went 21-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the 10th consecutive year.
"Last year the preseason poll sent a totally different message," Corbelli said. "We were expected to be one of the best teams in the country even though we were basically a brand new team. This time the expectations of the voters are not as high, but the results of this poll push us in a more relaxed way to show that we deserve to be ranked."
A&M begins the season on August 29 against Marquette at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. The Aggies make their home debut on Sept. 12 on the opening day of the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational.
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