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Utah volleyball ranked among Top 25 in preseason poll

Nebraska outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen (6) and middle blocker Meghan Haggerty (20) try to stop a shot by Utah middle blocker Bailey Bateman (3) in the second set of the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/The Journal-Star, Kaylee Everly) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; KOLN-TV OUT; KGIN-TV OUT; KLKN-TV OUT

  | Aug. 9, 2017, 11:24 p.m.
| Updated: 11:31 p.m.

The Utah volleyball program will begin this season ranked No. 23 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Coaches Poll. The AVCA announced its preseason rankings on Wednesday.

The Utes enter the season ranked in the AVCA poll for the first time since the 2015 season (No. 23) and for the sixth time in program history. The Utes, who went 20-12 (11-9 Pac-12) last season, were ranked No. 25 in the final AVCA rankings of 2016.

Five other Pac-12 Conference teams appeared in the poll, including defending national champion Stanford (No. 2) as well as Washington (3), UCLA (13), Oregon (18) and Arizona (24). USC and Washington State also received votes.

Texas received 25 first-place votes and a total of 1547 points to take the top spot in the poll. Stanford received more first-place votes (35), but accumulated a total of 1533 points to come in at No. 2.