Hawaii was ranked No. 1 in the final AVCA Coaches Top 25 the first two years of the poll’s existence. That reflected the Rainbow Wahine’s success on the court when they won both the 1982 and ’83 NCAA titles.

The past two seasons, Hawaii has been unranked in the final poll after being eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And, for the second consecutive year, the Wahine are unranked in the first preseason poll that was released on Tuesday.

As happened in 2018, Hawaii received votes, getting 13 to put the Wahine in a tie with Northern Iowa at 32nd. The program has not been in the Top 25 since the preseason poll of 2017, when the Wahine came in at No. 20.

Still, it’s all a guessing game for the 64 coaches who vote and Tuesday’s rankings had a feel of “round up the usual suspects.” The top 23 ranked in 2019 were all ranked in the the final poll of 2018, including Stanford and Nebraska being in the same spots as the Cardinal and Huskers were last December.

Defending national champion Stanford received 62 of 64 first-place votes, with national runner-up Nebraska earning one vote. No. 8 Penn State had the remaining vote.

“I never really thought about polls during my years as a player or a coach,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. ” I’ve always liked fighting no matter where we are at.

But looking at the poll, we will be playing some tough teams in the preseason — Washington (13), Baylor (20), San Diego (21), Cal Poly (23) plus Missouri is just outside of the Top 25.

“We are hoping to be competitive during our preseason, and have some great matches against Cal Poly.”

The Wahine open the season on Aug. 30 against USD in the Hawaiian Airlines Classic. The field also features Washington.

Hawaii also travels to the Baylor Invitation, playing Missouri on Sept. 21 and the host Bears Sept. 22.The Wahine face No. 23 Cal Poly twice during Big West play.

The defending conference champion Mustangs and runner-up Wahine likely will be 1-2 when the Big West preseason poll is released today.

Hawaii also renews its rivalry with UCLA in the Outrigger Resorts Invitational on Sept. 14. The Bruins, receiving 10 points in Tuesday’s poll, cancelled their trip to Honolulu last season due to Hurricane Lane, ending a streak of playing the Wahine every year dating back to 1974, Hawaii’s inaugural season of volleyball.

Also receiving points in Tuesday’s poll was Pepperdine (36), coached by former Wahine associate head coach Scott Wong. The Waves’ staff has two new additions with Hawaii ties: former Wahine Tara Hittle as an assistant and former UH assistant Lindsey Berg reprises that role in Malibu.

Hawaii is fifth all-time in the weekly poll with 500 appearances trailing only Nebraska and Stanford (543), Southern California (513) and UCLA (505). The Wahine are also fifth all-time in No. 1 ranking, behind Nebraska (99), Penn State (95), Stanford (73) and UCLA (56).

Tuesday was an off-day for the Wahine. Double-days continue today.