Volleyball Opens Season Ranked 18th in Preseason AVCA Poll
8/15/2023 1:49:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton has been ranked once each of the last 12 seasons
The Bluejays return five starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that finished last year 27-5, won an unprecedented ninth straight regular-season BIG EAST title, and finished the season ranked 21st in the country. Over the previous 15 seasons, 275-of-375 teams (73.3 percent) have been in both the preseason and final polls. Since 2008, all but 35 teams (of 375) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (90.7 percent).
Today's announcement marks the ninth time in the last 11 seasons that the Bluejays have earned a spot in the preseason poll, and today's No. 18 slotting is tied for the fourth-best preseason ranking in program history. Creighton was also 18th in 2016, 2019 and 2022. All three of those teams went on to win the BIG EAST regular-season title, and the 2016 squad reached the Elite Eight.
The Bluejays are one of 18 schools (along with Baylor, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 31 polls. Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 100 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll and 108 times in program history, which ranks 43rd-most all-time. Creighton is 172-40 all-time when playing as a ranked team in the AVCA poll.
CU's all-time best ranking in program history is No. 7, which came in the poll released on Aug. 28, 2017.
Creighton's BIG EAST rival, Marquette, earned its highest preseason ranking ever at No. 12 and one of four ranked Bluejay opponents in the preseason poll. The Bluejays play non-conference matches at No. 5 Nebraska (Sept. 6), No. 7 Minnesota (Sept. 16) and No. 16 Purdue (Aug. 26). Additionally, future foes LSU (34th) and Iowa State (38th) are among those also receiving votes.
The Bluejays host Northern Colorado on Saturday at 1 p.m. in an exhibition match at D.J. Sokol Arena before starting the regular-season on Aug. 25th vs. Loyola (Chicago) in West Lafayette, Ind.
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| 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 | 25-6 | 16th |
| 2020* (spring 2021) |
16th | 12-4 | Not Ranked |
| 2022 | 18th | 27-5 | 21st |
| 2023 | 18th | TBD | TBD |
Aug. 15, 2023 AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I WVB Poll
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes Adjusted) |
Total Points Adjusted |
Record |
Previous Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Texas [44] |
1564 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
2 |
Wisconsin [7] |
1489 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
3 |
Stanford [13] |
1449 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
4 |
Louisville |
1388 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
5-T |
Nebraska |
1294 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
5-T |
Pittsburgh |
1294 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
7 |
Minnesota |
1105 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
8 |
Penn State |
1091 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
9 |
Oregon |
1067 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
10 |
Kentucky |
899 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
11 |
Florida |
841 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
12 |
Marquette |
768 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
13 |
San Diego |
760 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
14 |
Ohio State |
745 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
15 |
Baylor |
694 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
16 |
Purdue |
644 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
17 |
BYU |
617 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
18 |
Creighton |
546 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
19 |
Houston |
421 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
20 |
Georgia Tech |
394 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
21 |
Washington State |
359 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
22 |
Southern California |
204 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
23 |
Rice |
192 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
24 |
Western Kentucky |
181 |
0-0 |
NA |
|
25 |
Arkansas |
122 |
0-0 |
NA |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots:?Kansas 99; Tennessee 84; Washington 63; Auburn 62; UCF 53; Hawai'i 49; Miami (FL) 45; Georgia 35; LSU 28; TCU 20; Illinois 18; Utah 18; Iowa State 14; Loyola Marymount 14; Pepperdine 14; Florida State 12; James Madison 5
10 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 45 combined pointsÂ
