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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii opposite Rado Parapunov rose for a kill against BYU’s Zach Eschenberg, left, and Miki Jauhiainen during the Rainbow Warriors’ five-set win on March 6 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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The theme of the American Volleyball Coaches Association 2021 preseason poll is picking up where things left off in 2020 as Brigham Young and Hawaii are again ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in voting by coaches.
UH and BYU split two matches, when the COVID-19 breakout forced cancellation of the 2020 season with BYU 17-1 and UH 15-1. The Cougars won in four games and UH won in five in their series March 5 and 6 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
In the preseason poll announced Monday the Cougars received all 14 first-place votes.
UH head coach Charlie Wade said, “I’m not surprised (at the 2021 poll). All the top teams have everybody coming back. Nobody really left.”
Four of UH’s Big West Conference opponents — UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC San Diego — also earned places in the top 10.
No schedule has been announced for 2021 but Wade said he hopes the Big West will pick up where it left off in March before the pandemic hit with UH about to play at Cal State Northridge. “That would be the easiest, that would make a lot of sense,” Wade said.
NVA/AVCA DIVISION I-II PRESEASON TOP 15
Pos. Team Pts. 2020 record
1. BYU (14) 238 17-1
2. Hawaii 224 15-1
3. UC Santa Barbara 200 14-2
4. Long Beach State 191 10-1
5. Lewis 187 15-4
6. UC Irvine 147 10-7
t7. Pepperdine 123 7-6
t7. UC San Diego 123 13-5
9. UCLA 109 10-9
10. Grand Canyon 99 14-7
11. Penn State 77 11-7
12. Concordia Irvine 49 10-10
13. George Mason 37 10-7
14. Ohio State 28 11-8
15. Stanford 24 6-11
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: NJIT 19; Princeton 19; Purdue Fort Wayne 15; Ball State 8.
