Waves Top AVCA Preseason Poll
12/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
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MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's volleyball team topped the AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 preseason poll, as announced today by the organization. The Waves open the 2015 regular season on the road on January 3 at North Greenville. Pepperdine's home opener is scheduled for January 9 against George Mason.
Pepperdine earned a majority 10 first-place votes in the poll, with 2014 NCAA champion Loyola Chicago picking up the remaining eight. The Waves edged the Ramblers in the poll by six points, 262-256.
Perennial EIVA power Penn State snagged the third spot, followed by MPSF rivals UC Santa Barbara and UCLA.
In total, the MPSF led all conferences with 10 schools in the top-15, followed by the MIVA with four. The Nittany Lions were the lone EIVA squad in the poll.
The Waves return five starters plus libero from last year's 19-7 squad. The 2014 team tied for first in the MPSF regular-season standings before advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament. They finished the year ranked #4 by the AVCA.
Pepperdine will likely boast one of the most experienced starting lineups in the nation in 2015. All six returning starters are seniors including setter Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS), outside hitter Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School), libero Brennan Anderson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS/Ohio State), middle blockers Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany) and Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson HS) and opposite side hitter Parker Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro HS).
Additionally, upperclassmen J.J. Mosolf (Saugus, Calif./Hart HS/Hawaii) and Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn./Aaron Academy) are back to boost the Waves' depth and possess ample playing and even starting experience.
West and Taylor were both AVCA All-American second-team picks last season. The duo was also joined by Tarantino and Kalmbach on the All-MPSF squad.
West and Taylor were also singled out as first-team honorees on the Off the Block/Springbak Preseason All-American roster. The Waves were the only program to place more than one student-athlete on the first team.
AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top-15 Poll
Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points | 2014 Record | 2014 Final Rank |
1 | Pepperdine (10) | 262 | 19-7 | 4 |
2 | Loyola-Chicago (8) | 256 | 29-1 | 1 |
3 | Penn State | 216 | 25-7 | 8 |
4 | UC Santa Barbara | 180 | 18-9 | 5 |
5 | UCLA | 173 | 18-11 | 9 |
6 | BYU | 166 | 21-9 | 3 |
7 | Southern California | 142 | 16-11 | 10 |
8 | UC Irvine | 134 | 18-11 | 6 |
9 | Lewis | 128 | 23-8 | 11 |
T-10 | Hawai'i | 119 | 15-12 | 12 |
T-10 | Stanford | 119 | 24-9 | 2 |
12 | Long Beach State | 80 | 18-10 | 7 |
13 | CSUN | 70 | 10-17 | 15 |
14 | Ohio State | 47 | 11-16 | NR |
15 | IPFW | 34 | 21-7 | 14 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Ball State 20; Princeton 8; Erskine 2
