MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team, the national runner-up last season, has been named the co-favorite in the 2009 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preseason coaches’ poll, which was released today.

 

The Waves finished 17-11 last year and tied for fourth in the MPSF with a 12-10 mark, but recorded three straight upsets to claim the 2008 MPSF Tournament title. They then went on to defeat Long Beach State in the NCAA semifinals before falling to top-ranked Penn State in the championship match.

 

The 2009 Waves return 10 of 14 letterwinners and five starters, plus the libero. However, one of those returning starters, senior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS), will miss the 2009 season with a shoulder injury. Also, the one starter that graduated was an important one in four-time All-American setter Jonathan Winder.

 

The Waves do return two-time All-American and senior opposite Paul Carroll (Forster, Australia), who led the nation with 6.54 kills last season and was named the top player in Australia earlier this season. Sophomore outside hitter Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) was second on the team in kills last season with 3.22 per game.

 

Six different MPSF teams received at least one first-place vote in the coaches’ poll. The Waves led all schools with four, but tied with UCLA atop the poll with 104 points apiece.

 

Pepperdine plays two exhibition tournaments in Canada at the end of December and the beginning of January prior to beginning the regular season at home on January 9 against California Baptist.

 

The preseason poll ranking is as follows:

T1. Pepperdine (104 points, four first-place votes)

T1. UCLA (104, two)

3. Long Beach State (87, two)

4. Cal State Northridge (84, two)

5. UC Irvine (80, one)

6. USC (79, one)

7. Stanford (76)

8. BYU (70)

9. Hawaii (41)

10. UC Santa Barbara (28)

11. UC San Diego (26)

12. Pacific (13)