The Cal Poly beach volleyball program received its highest American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason ranking in program history Monday, coming in at No. 6 in the poll.
The Mustangs, who recorded their best season in program history last year at 27-7, are the second-highest ranked Big West school with Hawai’i coming in at No. 5. Defending national champions UCLA sit atop the rankings. USC, Florida State and Pepperdine round out two, three and four.
Last month, DiG Magazine ranked Cal Poly No. 5 in its preseason poll.
The Mustangs were ranked No. 14 in last year’s AVCA preseason poll before climbing into the top-10 for the rest of the season. They received their highest ranking in program history in week eight of the season at No. 4 in the AVCA poll.
Last season also saw the program finish with a record above .500 for the first time in the program’s young history (it began in 2014), go on a 14-match winning streak and beat five teams ranked inside the top-20 during that streak.
Cal Poly returns four players who earned Big West All-Conference last season. Those players include junior Torrey Van Winden, sophomore Tiadora Miric, junior Emily Sonny, and sophomore Macy Gordon.
Van Winden and Miric were the Mustangs’ No. 1 pair last year, finishing 19-8, beating pairs from six ranked teams and also won the Big West Pairs Tournament.
Sonny was part of the No. 2 pairing which finished 29-5, the most wins by a pair in program history and beat pairs from 10 ranked teams.
Gordon paired with Raeann Greisen at the No. 4 spot, finishing 13-5 after becoming a pair midway through the season.
Cal Poly will open its 2019 season on the road against the No. 1 Bruins Thursday, February 21. The Mustangs will play at home (Pismo Beach) two weekends. The first will be March 9 and the second will be March 29-31.
-Provided by Cal Poly
