OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Volleyball program is ranked No. 18 in the preseason Top 25 poll released this afternoon by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. It's the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the Bluejays have earned a spot in the preseason poll, and tied for the third-best preseason ranking in program history.

The poll is led by Stanford, and also features defending national runner-up Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin in the top-five. The Cardinal earned 62-of-64 first-place votes overall.

For the seventh straight fall, Creighton's non-conference schedule features four or more teams that are ranked in the preseason poll, including No. 2 Nebraska, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 USC and No. 20 Baylor. The Jays also play a pair of matches against league rival and 16th-ranked Marquette and one match against Northern Iowa, which is receiving votes in the poll.

Including today's poll, Creighton has now spent 53 weeks in the top-25 of the rankings all-time, and its 39 straight weeks in the top-25 is the nation's 10th-longest active streak. Before today, Creighton's only better preseason ranking had been the No. 9 preseason slotting for the 2017 team and the No. 13 ranking prior to 2018. Creighton's best ranking in history in any poll was the No. 7 mark in the August 28, 2017 voting. Today's rank also marks the eighth straight season that Creighton has been ranked for at least one week.

Last year's Bluejay squad was 13th in the preseason poll, ended the regular-season as the No. 9 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, and finished the season with a 29-5 record. The Bluejays won their fifth straight BIG EAST regular-season title, and their fifth straight BIG EAST Championship was one of three tournaments the team won. That team would also finish the season 13th in the final year-end AVCA poll. Top returnees for Creighton in 2019 include seniors Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole and Brittany Witt, all of whom were named Preseason All-BIG EAST.

Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the previous 11 seasons, only 197-of-275 teams (71.6 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls. Since 2008, all but 28 teams (of 275) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (89.8 percent).

The Bluejays opened their fall practice schedule last week and host the annual Blue-White Scrimmage on Saturday at 3:30 pm, before opening the regular-season on Aug. 30 with a match at No. 2 Nebraska as part of the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.

 
Rank School (First Place Votes) Total Points Adjusted
1 Stanford (62) 1598
2 Nebraska (1) 1451
3 Minnesota 1414
4 Texas 1385
5 Wisconsin 1329
6 Illinois 1258
7 Kentucky 1204
8 Penn State (1) 1182
9 BYU 1111
10 Florida 1028
11 Oregon 934
12 Pittsburgh 827
13 Washington 797
14 Southern California 664
15 Michigan 645
16 Marquette 596
17 Purdue 571
18 Creighton 457
19 Tennessee 438
20 Baylor 407
21 San Diego 313
22 Washington State 289
23 Cal Poly 213
24 Arizona 157
25 Louisville 120
 
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Missouri 100; Utah 56; Colorado State 51; UCF 45; Pepperdine 36; Florida State 33; Hawai'i 13; Northern Iowa 13; TCU 10; UCLA 7; Cincinnati 6; Rice 6; South Carolina 6; Texas State 6; Loyola Marymount 4; Colorado 3; Kansas 2;
Four teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 15 combined points.

 
Creighton Volleyball History in the Preseason AVCA Poll
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final AVCA Rank
2013 25th 23-9 Not Ranked
2014 23rd 25-9 Not Ranked
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th TBD TBD