UC Irvine Starts 2019 Ranked No. 4
December 06, 2018 | Men's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. – Head coach David Kniffin's team was ranked fourth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Coaches Preseason Poll.
Three Big West teams take up three of the top four spots, including defending champion Long Beach State who earned all 16 first place votes with 240 points. UCLA was second (216) followed by Hawaii (203), UC Irvine (190) and BYU (166) to round out the top five.
The Anteater schedule features all but three teams in the Top 15 preseason poll as well as four teams receiving votes.
UCI returns All-Americans Scott Stadick, Karl Apfelbach, Aaron Koubi and Joel Schneidmiller as well as All-Big West honorees Dante Chakravorti, David Parker and Austin Wilmot. Adding to the already solid lineup is the country's top recruit Jonny Bowles.
The Anteaters return were 21-10 a year ago, making the program's third NCAA appearance in the last six seasons.
UCI kicks off 2019 on the road traveling to No. 9 Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 4 and No. 7 Lewis on Jan. 5.
2019 AVCA Pre-Season Men's Volleyball Poll (Dec. 6)
Rank School Pts/2018 record/2018 finish )
1. Long Beach State (240/28-1/1)
2. UCLA (216/26-8/2)
3. Hawai'I (203/19-8/5)
4. UC Irvine (190/21-10/6)
5. BYU (166/22-7/3)
6. Pepperdine (156/15-8/8)
7. Lewis (143/19-11/10)
8. Ohio State (137/25-6/4)
9. Loyola-Chicago (118/23-7/7)
10. UC Santa Barbara (80/11-13/12)
11. CSUN (64/16-11/9)
12. Concordia (39/16-15/13)
13. Stanford (33/6-20/NR)
14. Grand Canyon-(29---18-11---14)
14. Purdue-Fort Wayne-(29---18-11---15)
Also receiving votes: Ball St.-19, Penn St.-18, George Mason-13, Princeton-13, USC-5,
Barton-2
Three Big West teams take up three of the top four spots, including defending champion Long Beach State who earned all 16 first place votes with 240 points. UCLA was second (216) followed by Hawaii (203), UC Irvine (190) and BYU (166) to round out the top five.
The Anteater schedule features all but three teams in the Top 15 preseason poll as well as four teams receiving votes.
UCI returns All-Americans Scott Stadick, Karl Apfelbach, Aaron Koubi and Joel Schneidmiller as well as All-Big West honorees Dante Chakravorti, David Parker and Austin Wilmot. Adding to the already solid lineup is the country's top recruit Jonny Bowles.
The Anteaters return were 21-10 a year ago, making the program's third NCAA appearance in the last six seasons.
UCI kicks off 2019 on the road traveling to No. 9 Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 4 and No. 7 Lewis on Jan. 5.
2019 AVCA Pre-Season Men's Volleyball Poll (Dec. 6)
Rank School Pts/2018 record/2018 finish )
1. Long Beach State (240/28-1/1)
2. UCLA (216/26-8/2)
3. Hawai'I (203/19-8/5)
4. UC Irvine (190/21-10/6)
5. BYU (166/22-7/3)
6. Pepperdine (156/15-8/8)
7. Lewis (143/19-11/10)
8. Ohio State (137/25-6/4)
9. Loyola-Chicago (118/23-7/7)
10. UC Santa Barbara (80/11-13/12)
11. CSUN (64/16-11/9)
12. Concordia (39/16-15/13)
13. Stanford (33/6-20/NR)
14. Grand Canyon-(29---18-11---14)
14. Purdue-Fort Wayne-(29---18-11---15)
Also receiving votes: Ball St.-19, Penn St.-18, George Mason-13, Princeton-13, USC-5,
Barton-2
Players Mentioned
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