Aug. 19, 2009

By Danny Mattie
Athletic Media Relations

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the second consecutive year, the Colorado State volleyball team will enter its season ranked in the AVCA coaches top 25 preseason poll.  The American Volleyball Coaches Associaton announced the results of the poll Tuesday afternoon. 

The Rams, who open the 2009 slate in just nine days by playing host to the Asics/Coors Classic at Moby Arena, will enter the first week of competition as the No. 24-ranked team in the nation. 

Dating back to the first week of the 2008 season, Colorado State has now been ranked an MWC-leading 17 consecutive weeks in the AVCA top 25. 

Mountain West Conference foe Utah, picked to finish just ahead of CSU in the conference preseason poll, enters the season ranked 17th nationally.  The Rams will also face several teams that are earning votes entering the season, including Pepperdine, Duke, New Mexico State, Cal Poly and Tennessee. 

Colorado State has now been ranked in 121 of 194 polls released by the AVCA since Head Coach Tom Hilbert’s arrival in Fort Collins in 1997.