Irvine, Calif. -- UC Irvine, the NCAA and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation defending champion, topped the 2013 MPSF Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Anteaters recieved 11 of the 13 first place votes and collected 143 points. The nine-point seperation (143-134) between UCI and second place BYU was the largest gap between the top two teams in the history of the poll. BYU collected the other two first place votes.
UCI first year head coach David Kniffin returns four starters plus the libero, including first team All-American Kevin Tillie and first team All-MPSF selection Jeremy Dejno.
UCI will host Irvine neighbor Concordia in an exhibition match Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. in Crawford Court then start the regular season traveling to the UC Santa Barbara Invitational on Jan. 4-5. The Anteaters return home to start MPSF action, hosting Pepperdine Jan. 8 before a showdown with USC on Jan. 11 in a rematch of the 2012 NCAA championship duel.
MPSF Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. UC Irvine 143 (11)
2. BYU 134 (2)
3. Pepperdine 113
4. Stanford 110
5. UCLA 94
6. Long Beach State 85
7. USC 83
8. Cal State Northridge 61
9. UC Santa Barbara 55
10. Cal Baptist 49
11. Pacific 35
12. Hawaii 30
13. UC San Diego 22
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