2021 college volleyball season: Essential guide to top teams, players, matches and rankings
College volleyball rankings: Full breakdown of preseason Power 10
Share
The long awaited 2020-21 women s college volleyball season is finally here. The ACC, Big 12, SEC and Sun Belt conferences began conference play in the fall, but the rest of the conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-12, will start up Jan. 22.
First, a quick summary of what we know for this season, as of now:
The Pac-12 released its schedule two days ahead of the first weekend of action.
The Big Ten released its schedule in late December.
The AVCA preseason rankings were released on Jan. 5. Wisconsin and Texas are the No. 1 and No. 2 teams.
George Huhmann 20 Off to Strong Start in First Season of Pro Volleyball - Princeton University Athletics
goprincetontigers.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from goprincetontigers.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UCSB Men’s Volleyball Ranked 3rd in AVCA Preseason Poll
Senior Roy McFarland returns to the UCSB men’s volleyball team after earning All-American honors last season. (Noozhawk file photo) By Barry Punzal, Noozhawk Sports Editor |
@NoozhawkSports
| 6:10 p.m.
With the return of four decorated seniors, the UCSB men’s volleyball team has been ranked third in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll for the 2021 season.
UCSB, 14-2 last season, placed behind BYU (17-1) and Hawai’l (15-1) in the poll.
They’re followed by Long Beach State (10-1), Lewis (15-4), UC Irvine (10-7), Pepperdine (7-6) and UC San Diego (13-5), UCLA (10-9) and Grand Canyon (14-7) in the top 10.
Kicking specialist Daniel Sparks to transfer to Gophers January 5, 2021 11:20pm Text size Copy shortlink:
The Gophers football team added a specialist to its 2021 roster, a walk-on transfer.
Daniel Sparks finished his true freshman season at Louisiana-Monroe, where he handled kickoffs and punts. His 33 kickoffs went an average of about 53 yards, while his 30 punts averaged about 45 yards, including five of more than 50 yards. His longest was 63 yards.
The 6-6 Alabama native joins a Gophers team that has struggled on special teams. Presumed COVID-19 absences sidelined several kickers and punters to start the 2020 season, forcing pooch and squib kicks from the still-injured default starter, Brock Walker. The unit improved toward the end of the season when 26-year-old freshman Mark Crawford of Australia seemed to find his comfort zone, but his longest punt was still only 48 yards.
Wisconsin Volleyball ranked #1 in AVCA Preseason Poll
Badger Coach Kelly Sheffield (File Photo) – Courtesy of UW Athletics
The Wisconsin women’s volleyball team drew the number-one ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll, released on Tuesday.
The Badgers finished the 2019-20 season as national runner-up and ranked second.
Texas is ranked second and Stanford third in the preseason poll. The Big Ten has five other schools ranked in the top 25, including Nebraska (5th), Minnesota (7th), Penn State (9th), Purdue (13th) and Michigan (24th).
In-state rival Marquette is ranked 20th in the preseason poll.
The Badgers will open their season against Purdue Jan. 22 & 23 at the UW-Field House. Start times haven’t been released yet.
vimarsana © 2020. All Rights Reserved.