Gators Tabbed No. 4 in 2015 AVCA Preseason Poll
Wednesday, August 12, 2015 | Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The polls are in, the volleyball season is just over two weeks away and the Florida Gators will start the 2015 campaign ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll, released Wednesday afternoon.
The Orange and Blue kicked off preseason camp Monday, while team dinner Saturday and picture day and video board intros Sunday preceded the start of two-a-days.
After a 28-4 record last season, another SEC Championship with an undefeated conference slate and an Elite Eight appearance, the Gators surge into the upcoming season to write their story with 12 returning letterwinners and three newcomers under the tutelage of 25th-year head coach Mary Wise.
Five seniors in Simone Antwi, Mackenzie Dagostino, Gabby Mallette, Nikki O'Rourke and éiva Recek will lead the way, while Florida additionally returns first and second team All-Americans Alex Holston and Rhamat Alhassan, respectively.
One of two SEC squads ranked in the Preseason Top 25 Poll, Florida will match up with five opponents represented in the preseason poll, including No. 3 Texas and No. 13 Oregon the second weekend of the season as part of the 2015 VERT Challenge in Austin, featuring the Gators, Longhorns, Ducks and No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers. UF will then face No. 18 Hawaii in Honolulu as part of the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge. Match ups with Sunshine State rival FSU (No. 9) and conference foe Kentucky (No. 15) will follow Sept. 20, Sept. 27 and Oct. 18, respectively.
The Gators will host Fan Day August 22 at 2 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center to officially kick off the 2015 season with the Gator Nation. Florida volleyball season tickets, Gold & Platinum Cards are on sale now.
2015 AVCA DI COACHES PRESEASON TOP 25 POLL
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points Adjusted | 2014 Record | 2014 Final Rank |
| 1 | Penn State (54) | 1538 | 36-3 | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford (6) | 1468 | 33-2 | 2 |
| 3 | Texas (1) | 1384 | 27-3 | 5 |
| 4 | Florida | 1338 | 28-4 | 6 |
| T-5 | Nebraska | 1275 | 23-10 | 8 |
| T-5 | Wisconsin (1) | 1275 | 31-3 | 4 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 1158 | 29-3 | 7 |
| 8 | Illinois | 1055 | 26-8 | 11 |
| 9 | Florida State | 986 | 30-3 | 10 |
| 10 | Washington | 953 | 31-3 | 9 |
| 11 | BYU | 919 | 30-5 | 3 |
| 12 | Colorado State | 754 | 31-3 | 12 |
| 13 | Oregon | 722 | 23-10 | 14 |
| 14 | Ohio State | 700 | 23-12 | 18 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 603 | 27-6 | 17 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 529 | 20-14 | 22 |
| 17 | Arizona | 498 | 24-10 | 16 |
| 18 | Hawai'i | 401 | 22-7 | 23 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 340 | 19-14 | NR |
| 20 | UCLA | 316 | 22-12 | 15 |
| 21 | Iowa State | 273 | 19-10 | NR |
| 22 | Southern California | 255 | 16-16 | NR |
| 23 | Utah | 211 | 20-13 | 18 |
| 24 | Colorado | 188 | 20-14 | 21 |
| 25 | Duke | 168 | 22-8 | 25 |
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