TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State volleyball team will open the 2015 season ranked at No. 16, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced on Wednesday.
“It's exciting to be included in the pre-season poll,” head coach Jason Watson said. “The team has worked hard to be in this position. I like how we are preparing for the season. There is a lot of good work going on in our gym."
This marks the second straight year in which the Sun Devils will open the season ranked. Prior to 2014, the last time ASU was ranked preseason was in 1996. This also marks the third-straight season that the Sun Devils have been ranked in an AVCA poll, the longest span since the 1992-97 seasons.
10 of ASU’s 2015 opponents were also ranked in the preseason poll, with eight opponents also hailing from the Pac-12 Conference: No. 2 Stanford, No. 8 Illinois, No. 10 Washington, No. 12 Colorado State, No. 13 Oregon, No. 17 Arizona, No. 20 UCLA, No. 22 USC, No. 23 Utah, and No. 24 Colorado.
“With nine teams from the Pac-12 in the poll, it's going to be another great season," Watson added.
Last season the Sun Devils were ranked at No. 22 in the final AVCA poll. The first regular-season AVCA poll will be released on Monday, Aug. 31.
On Tuesday, the Pac-12 announced that ASU was picked to finish second in the league, and senior and returning AVCA All-American Macey Gardner was named to the Pac-12 Preseason Team for the third time in her career.
ASU will open the 2015 campaign on Aug. 28-29 at the Falcon Classic in Colorado Springs, Colo., against Northeastern, New Mexico State, and Air Force. ASU’s first home match of the season is set for Tuesday, Sept. 8 against Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. PT in Wells Fargo Arena.
Prior to the start of the season, two practice sessions in Wells Fargo Arena will be open for the fans to come watch: Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. PT and Saturday, Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. PT.