In its second year back in the Big West Conference, Hawaii has secured a place on top of the preseason poll.

The Rainbow Wahine were a unanimous pick at No. 1 Tuesday among the nine conference coaches. They are followed by Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge.

"Long Beach will be better," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It had a lot of injuries last year and was pretty good anyway. If they are healthy, they are very good. Northridge returns just about everybody and they should have beaten us at least once last year."

UH returned to the Big West after playing in the Western Athletic Conference since 1996. It went 18-0 — winning in five sets five times — to become the first Big West team to go unbeaten since 2002.

The Wahine’s run through the conference helped little at season’s end. They did not get a top-16 seed in the NCAA tournament, despite a No. 8 national ranking, and went to fifth-ranked Washington for a subregional. Hawaii ended 27-3, falling to the Huskies in the second round.

A few wins from other Big West teams certainly would have helped. The Big West went 67-64 in nonconference matches, including 10-34 against teams from the Pac-12 and West Coast conferences.

"I think everybody will be a little better," Shoji said. "But it doesn’t really translate into wins until it happens."

UH returns three first-team All-Big West players — Jade Vorster, Mita Uiato and Emily Hartong, the 2012 Player of the Year. Hartong was also the first Big West player in 10 years named first-team All-American.

Hawaii begins practice Saturday morning. It opens the season Aug. 30 against reigning NCAA champion Texas.