Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Volleyball Ranks 16th/17th In Preseason Polls
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
August 12, 1998
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball team is ranked 16th in the preseason top 20 poll according to Volleyball Magazine and 17th in the preseason top 25 poll according to USA Today/AVCA. Volleyball ranks Long Beach State as the preseason favorite, while two other Big Ten teams are represented in Penn State at No. 2 and Wisconsin at No. 12. The USA Today/AVCA poll has NCAA runner-up Penn State on top with Long Beach State in the No. 2 slot. Other Big Ten schools are Wisconsin at No. 7 and Ohio State at No. 13.
State opens its 1998 season with the Alumni Match on Saturday, August 29 at 1 p.m. The regular season kicks off with the L&L/MSU Volleyball Classic on Sept. 4-5 in Jenison Field House with Pittsburgh, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan in attendance. Next, the team travels to Louisville for the Louisville Tournament with Louisville, Murray State and the Czech Republic, before returning home to host the MSU Invitational with Notre Dame, Utah and New Hampshire. The Big Ten season opens on Sept. 25-26 with back-to-back matches against Illinois and Purdue.
The Spartans will be seen on regional and/or national television twice this season. On Nov. 20, Fox Sports Chicago will carry States match with Penn State while ESPN2 travels to East Lansing for the MSU vs. Ohio State match on Nov. 21.
VOLLEYBALL MAGAZINE PRESEASON TOP 20
(Rank; Team; '97 Record; Final '97 Rank)
1.Long Beach State; 33-2; 2-- 2.Penn State; 34-2; 3-- 3.Texas; 25-6; 14-- 4.USC; 23-6; 8-- 5.Stanford; 33-2; 1-- 6.Nebraska; 27-7; 10-- 7.Pacific; 23-9; 15-- 8.Colorado; 22-9; NR-- 9.UC Santa Barbara; 32-5; 6-- 10.Brigham Young; 29-6; 5-- 11.Florida; 34-4; 7-- 12.Wisconsin; 30-3; 4-- 13.Arkansas; 34-4; 19-- 14.UCLA; 17-13; NR-- 15.Hawaii; 25-8; 11-- 16.Michigan State; 23-12; NR-- 17.Washington State; 26-7; 12-- 18.Oral Roberts; 29-10; NR-- 19.Florida State; 25-9; NR-- 20.Washington; 20-10; 16--
USA TODAY/AVCA PRESEASON Top 25
(Rank, Team; Pts.; '97 Record; Final '97 Rank)
1.Penn State (29); 1446; 34-2; 2-- 2.Long Beach State (17); 1418; 33-2; 3-- 3.USC (5); 1279; 23-6; 9-- 4.Stanford (7); 1210; 33-2; 1-- 5.Nebraska (1); 1204; 27-7; 8-- 6.Florida; 1165; 34-4; 4-- 7.Wisconsin; 1143; 30-3; 5-- 8.BYU; 1070; 29-6; 7-- 9.Texas (1); 1040; 25-6; 10-- 10.UC Santa Barbara; 938; 32-5; 6-- 11.Pacific; 886; 23-9; 16-- 12.Colorado; 795; 22-9; 14-- 13.Ohio State; 514; 24-11; 15-- 14.Hawaii; 508; 25-8; 25-- 15.Arkansas; 494; 34-4; 21-- 16.Notre Dame; 471; 25-9; 18-- 17.Michigan State; 438; 23-12; NR-- 18.UCLA; 399; 17-13; NR-- 19.Texas A&M; 386; 26-8; 13-- 20.Loyola Marymount; 381; 22-7; 17-- 21.San Diego; 331; 26-4; 20-- 22.Washington State; 330; 26-7; 12-- 23.Washington; 321; 20-10; 11-- 24.Florida State; 172; 25-9; NR-- 25.Pepperdine; 149; 23-6; 24--
Others receiving points: Colorado State (103), Arizona (94), Michigan (90), Maryland (88), Georgia (72), Houston (72), Illinois(67), Minnesota (64), Texas Tech (52), Kansas State (49),Oklahoma (34), Utah (34), Oral Roberts (25), Clemson (23), Northern Illinois (22), South Carolina (21), Fresno State (12),Louisville (12), Sacramento State (11), Ball State (9), Oregon State(8), San Diego State (8), Central Florida (7), Arizona State (6), South Florida (6), Illinois State (5), Temple (5), Cal Poly SLO (4),Miami (Ohio) (3), Auburn (2).
