Big West Announces Volleyball Coaches Poll

IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West Conference announced the results of the 2021 Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday morning. Heading into their first season in a deep league, the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners were selected to finish ninth of eleven teams.

Bakersfield Volleyball is familiar with national competition, having earned a pair of berths into the NCAA Tournament (2014 and 2017) while members of the Western Athletic Conference. The `Runners have a difficult challenge ahead of them in their new conference as the Big West sent three teams to the national tournament in 2019.

CSUB Director of Volleyball Giovana Melo, who heads into her eighth season at the helm, will guide the `Runners over this new hurdle. While the `Runner indoor volleyball team is set to experience many firsts this season, the CSUB volleyball program is not altogether unfamiliar with the league; in fact, the Bakersfield beach volleyball team has competed as members of the Big West for the past six seasons, providing familiarity with the rest of the conference.

The `Runners are set to kick off the 2021 campaign on Aug. 27 at the Northern Illinois Tournament. CSUB's pandemic-postponed Big West debut will have to wait until Sept. 24 when the `Runners drive south to face Cal State Fullerton on the road. The following weekend, CSUB fans will be chomping at the bit to grab tickets for Bakersfield's Big West home opener, Oct. 1, when the `Runners host CSUN in the Icardo Center.

The results of the 2021 preseason poll are listed below:

2021 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1.   Hawai'i 117 (7)
2.   Cal Poly 111 (4)
3.   UC Santa Barbara       90
4.   Long Beach State 88
5.   UC Davis 83
6.   UC Irvine 57
7.   CSUN 50
      UC San Diego 50
9.   CSU Bakersfield 35
10. Cal State Fullerton 25
11. UC Riverside 20
(first-place votes)

~GoRunners.com~

Print Friendly Version