Creighton Volleyball Ranked 12th in AVCA Preseason Poll

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Volleyball team is ranked 12th in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, which was released on Wednesday, Aug. 6. This is the ninth time in the past 10 seasons the Jays have been ranked in the preseason, and 14th straight campaign that Creighton has spent at least one week in the Top 25.

The Bluejays return three starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that finished last year 32-3, won an unprecedented 11th straight regular-season BIG EAST title, and finished the season ranked sixth in the country. Over the previous 17 seasons, 315-of-425 teams (74.1 percent) have been in both the preseason and final polls. Since 2008, all but 40 teams (of 425) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (90.6 percent).

Today's announcement marks the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that the Bluejays have earned a spot in the preseason poll, and today's No. 12 slotting ties its second-best preseason ranking in program history, trailing only its No. 9 selection prior to the 2017 campaign and matching last year's edition. The poll also means that Brian Rosen will be the first person to lead a ranked team in their debut as a Creighton head coach since Elmar Bolowich inherited a Creighton men's soccer team in 2011 that started the season ranked No. 10. Bolowich would lead the Bluejays to the College Cup and No.4 year-end ranking.

The Bluejays are one of 13 schools (along with Baylor, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 63 polls. Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 132 times the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll and 140 times in program history, which ranks 39th-most all-time. Creighton is 233-48 all-time when playing as a ranked team in the AVCA poll.

CU's all-time best ranking in program history is No. 5, which came four straight weeks last November (Nov. 4, Nov. 11, Nov. 18, Nov. 25, 2024).

 Creighton will play seven non-conference matches against preseason Top 25 teams. The Bluejays play non-conference matches against No. 1 Nebraska (Sept. 16), No. 2 Penn State (Aug. 23), No. 4 Louisville (Sept. 12), No. 5 Texas (Aug. 29), No. 14 Kansas (Aug. 31 and Sept. 21) and No. 21 USC (Sept. l7). Additionally, future foes San Diego (37th; Sept. 5), Rice (T-38th; Sept. 13) and Northern Iowa (T-40th; Sept. 14), as well as BIG EAST rival Marquette (29th; Oct. 2 & Nov. 1), are among those also receiving votes.

Creighton hosts its annual Blue/White exhibition on Saturday (Aug. 9), then welcomes Colorado State to D.J. Sokol Arena on Aug. 16th. The regular-season gets started with a match on Aug. 23 in Lincoln against defending national champion Penn State, which is ranked No. 2 in today's poll.