Nebraska, Iowa State and Northern Iowa enter the season ranked in the AVCA Poll.Nebraska, Iowa State and Northern Iowa will enter the 2012 season ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, which was released Monday.
The Huskers welcome back a strong team that returns All-Americans Gina Mancuso, Lauren Cook, Morgan Broekhuis and Hannah Werth. During the 2011 season, Nebraska finished with a 25-5 record, captured its first Big Ten title in its first season in the league and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 30th time.
Iowa State, who advanced to their second NCAA Elite Eight in two years last season, open the season ranked 10th in the poll.
The Cyclones have begun the year ranked in the top-10 once before, ranked ninth at the beginning of the 2010 season.
In 2011, Iowa State finished eighth on the year after falling to Florida State in the NCAA Regional Final match, the second-highest year-end ranking in program history. The squad broke a school record in RPI, rising as high as second and ending the year third in the nation.
The University of Northern Iowa is ranked 21st.
UNI posted a 33-2 mark a season ago and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers have won three straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. UNI was ranked No. 18 in the final 2012 AVCA poll.
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2011 Record 2011 Final
Poll
1 UCLA (54) 1485 30-6 1
2 Texas (1) 1341 25-5 4
3 Penn State 1302 25-8 9
4 Nebraska (1) 1281 25-5 12
5 Southern California (1) 1233 29-5 3
6 Stanford (3) 1197 22-8 14
7 Illinois 1163 30-5 2
8 Hawai'i 989 31-2 5
9 Purdue 935 29-5 10
10 Iowa State 886 25-6 8
11 Pepperdine 801 25-7 6
12 Florida State 770 28-7 7
13 Kentucky 724 28-6 13
14 Washington 677 24-8 17
15 Tennessee 652 28-4 19
16 Minnesota 616 20-12 15
17 California 583 26-7 16
18 Florida 543 27-6 11
19 San Diego 476 28-5 T-20
20 Oregon 366 21-10 24
21 Northern Iowa 286 33-2 18
22 Kansas State 246 22-11 22
23 Michigan 210 22-13 T-20
24 Ohio State 163 20-15 23
25 Colorado State 136 24-6 25
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Long Beach State 66; North Carolina 57; Dayton 42; St. Mary's (Ca.) 33; Michigan State 30; Louisville 28; Tulsa 25; LSU 24; Western Kentucky 24; Arizona 17; Texas A&M 15; Miami (FL) 13; BYU 12; Missouri 9; Cincinnati 6; Oklahoma 4; Wichita State 3
