The release date of the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll isn’t one the Hawaii women’s volleyball team ever has circled on a calendar.

Nonetheless, the four-time defending BWC champions may have found extra motivation on Wednesday when the league’s preseason rankings put Hawaii second behind Cal Poly.

The Rainbow Wahine earned three first-place votes and finished with 85 points, well behind the 94 points given to the Mustangs, who received five first-place votes.

Long Beach State, which Hawaii swept in the championship match of the inaugural Big West Tournament last November, received two first-place votes and was picked third, ahead of No. 4 UC Santa Barbara, which earned one first-place vote after going 17-1 in the regular season last year.

Hawaii finished in a second-place tie last season at 14-4 with the Mustangs, who did not have a senior on their roster. UH swept Cal Poly in the semifinals of the BWC tournament before knocking out the host in decisive fashion in the final.

“We talk about it but at the end of the day, preseason polls don’t really mean anything unless at the end of the season we show up and those numbers change and we’re at the top,” senior libero Tayli Ikenaga said. “Definitely motivation for us knowing that we’re second.”

Senior setter Kate Lang and junior outside hitter Caylen Alexander were named to the seven-player Big West Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Team, which was also released Wednesday.

Both are repeat selections to the team.

Lang, who made the all-conference first team as a freshman and sophomore, was voted to the second team last season despite leading the Big West in total assists (1,229) and assists per set (10.5). She also won eight conference Setter of the Week awards.

Alexander earned honorable mention honors last season after she was the Big West Freshman of the Year two seasons ago. She ranked second on the team and sixth in the conference averaging 3.10 kills per set and had a run of 16 consecutive matches in double figures in kills.

Lang, a fifth-year senior and four-year starter at setter, has never had a season end without a conference title.

“I think that that’s a pretty huge deal,” Lang said. “I don’t know if coach Robyn (Ah Mow) will exactly agree with me on this one … but personally that’s a huge motivator for me. That makes me a little upset and disappointed in the poll. Yeah, we have a bunch of freshmen but those underdogs are ready to eat.”

Hawaii was the only Big West team to receive more than one vote in the preseason AVCA rankings released on Monday.

Long Beach State was the only school other than Hawaii with multiple selections to the preseason all-conference team in outside hitter Natalie Glenn and setter Zayna Meyer, who was picked over Lang for first-team honors last season.

UH opens its season next week in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic hosting SMU next Friday, Aug. 30, and San Diego on Sunday to begin the month of September.