BATON ROUGE — Coming off their best back-to-back seasons in 13 years, the LSU volleyball team was ranked No. 23 in the preseason CSTV/AVCA Coaches poll released Tuesday, while also being slated to finish second in the Southeastern Conference Western Division by the league’s coaches.
The No. 23 national ranking marks the first preseason poll selection for the Tigers since coming in at No. 13 in the 1993 preseason poll. LSU finished the 2006 season ranked No. 19 in the CSTV/AVCA poll and was ranked in 15 consecutive polls to close out the year.
The Tigers have won back-to-back SEC Western Division titles and made two-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since making four-straight appearances from 1989-1992. LSU returns three starters, including first-team All-SEC selection Marina Skender and freshman All-SEC selection Lauren DeGirolamo, as part of the seven returning letterwinners while bringing in five newcomers.
The Tigers received 17 points from the panel made up of the 11 SEC coaches, while Alabama was picked to win the West with 14 points. The Lady’Backs were picked third with 28 points, followed by Ole Miss with 36 points. Auburn and Ole Miss rounded out the West with 47and 53 points respectively.
In the East, Florida, who had earned at least a share of the last 16 SEC championships, was picked to win the title with 10 points and 10 first-place votes. Kentucky, who advanced to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, came in second with 22 points, followed quickly by Tennessee with 25 points. Rounding out the East are Georgia with 41 points and South Carolina with 42.
The Gators, who enter the season ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll, were also selected as the overall league champion ahead of the Wildcats, who are receiving votes in the poll, by way of a 10-to-1 vote. Florida also leads the SEC in the national poll, with its No. 7 ranking. Following the Tigers at No. 23, three more conference teams are receiving votes in the poll. Kentucky is in 37th place, followed by Alabama at 39 and Tennessee at 43rd.
For the season, the Tigers’ only ranked opponent in the preseason poll is Florida. In addition to Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee, LSU is scheduled to face Notre Dame and Iowa State, which are also among the programs receiving votes. The Tigers will take on the Fighting Irish in a non-conference match at home on Oct. 23, while taking on the Cyclones in the Iowa Challenge in week three.
For the SEC preseason poll, points were compiled on a 1-2-3-4-5-6 basis for the Western Division and 1-2-3-4-5 for the Eastern Division. Each coach was not allowed to vote for his or her own team and each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
The Tigers will open the season on Aug. 24 against New Orleans in the Maravich Center in the Mizuno Tiger Classic at 7 p.m. The Tigers will then take on Louisiana-Monroe on Aug. 25 at 11 a.m. before closing out the two-day tournament against Saint Louis at 7 p.m. Admission to all volleyball matches is only $5 for adults and $3 for children. Team posters and schedule cards will be available to pick up throughout the tournament.
2007 CSTV/AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll
Rank
School (First-Place Votes)
Total Points
2006 Record
2006 Final Rank
1.
Nebraska (53)
1491
33-1
1
2.
Stanford (7)
1443
30-4
2
3.
Penn State
1350
32-3
5
4.
Texas
1269
24-7
7
5.
UCLA
1214
33-4
3
6.
Southern California
1197
27-5
8
7.
Florida
1131
30-3
10
8.
Washington
1088
29-5
4
9.
Minnesota
1032
26-8
6
10.
Hawai’i
982
29-6
9
11.
Wisconsin
924
26-7
10
12.
California
746
22-10
13
13.
Purdue
658
23-11
18
14.
Cal Poly
636
23-6
17
15.
San Diego
614
26-6
14
16.
Ohio State
586
25-8
16
17.
BYU
375
25-6
20
18.
Duke
284
29-4
22
19.
Long Beach State
268
26-6
NR
20.
Missouri
253
18-13
21
21.
Utah
231
28-4
15
22.
Oklahoma
205
26-5
12
23.
LSU
200
26-6
19
24.
Santa Clara
194
20-8
NR
25.
Ohio
178
28-5
25
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Louisville 157; Pepperdine 126; New Mexico State 104;Notre Dame 86; Colorado State 76; Colorado 63; Arizona 44;Iowa State39; Michigan 31; Northern Iowa 29; Texas A&M 29;Kentucky 24; St. John’s 24;Alabama 22; Michigan State 22; UC Santa Barbara 12; Wichita State 11;Tennessee 10; Middle Tennessee 9; Sacramento State 5; Georgia Tech 3; Oregon 3.
Preseason Coaches’ Poll (First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
Eastern Division
1. Florida 10
2. Kentucky 22
3. Tennessee 25
4. Georgia 41
5. South Carolina 42
Western Division
1. Alabama (2) 14
2. LSU (8) 17
3. Arkansas (1) 28
4. Ole Miss 36
5. Auburn 47
6. Mississippi State 53
Overall Champion:
Florida (10), Kentucky (1)