Oregon Volleyball: Ducks Start Season #8 in First AVCA Coaches Poll

Dec 8, 2012; Louisville, KY, USA; Texas Longhorns outside hitter Bailey Webster (23) hits the ball against Oregon Ducks outside hitter Alaina Bergsma (2), middle blocker Canace Finley (5) and outside hitter Liz Brenner (6) during the first set of the finals of the NCAA Womens Volleyball Championship at the KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

In similar fashion to the Pac 12 Poll, where Oregon was picked to finish 4th in the Conference after making it to the National Final last year and losing to Texas, the Ducks find themselves as the fourth Pac 12 team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll – but ranked 8th behind Top ranked Texas, 2nd ranked Penn State and several teams from the Pac 12 including 3rd ranked Stanford, 4th ranked USC and 5th ranked Washington.

I don’t really understand why the Ducks go from #2 in the Nation last season down to #8 since they made it as far as they did. I understand the teams that made the list ahead of them all have high expectations for the season, but so do the Ducks. They return several key players including Liz Brenner and Lauren Plum. Oregon will have to prove their place on the court.

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Their first test comes in the Oregon Classic starting on August 30th. Several dates to circle include Pac 12 Matches on Friday September 27th vs Washington, Sunday, October 13th vs USC,  Wednesday October 23rd at Stanford, Friday Novemer 8th at USC,  Friday November 14th vs Stanford,  and of course two Civil Wars – the first to start the Pac 12 slate on Wednesday, September 25th and to close the season on Friday, November 29th.

The next poll will be released on September 2nd.

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