AVCA Preseason Poll

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will open the 2010 season ranked No. 12 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Top 15 poll. The Warriors finished last season ranked 15^th, which extended the program's streak of 24 consecutive seasons ranked in the final poll.

 

The 2010 season marks the inaugural season for head coach Charlie Wade, a longtime assistant for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, who returned to Manoa after a three-year stint at the University of the Pacific's women's volleyball head coach. Wade inherits a team which returns six starters, including kill leader Joshua Walker and starting middle blockers Steven Grgas and Matthew Rawson. The Warriors also welcome heralded recruit Jonas Umlauft, a 6-9 opposite from Stadtbergen, Germany.

 

Also returning for the Warriors with starting experience are outside hitter Steven Hunt, outside hitter Gus Tuaniga, and libero Ric Cervantes, the latter of whom is a two-time all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation third-team pick. In all, UH returns 11 letterwinners and its only position without a returning starter is at setter, where Nejc Zemljak will assume the role this season and has 20 career starts during his two-year career.

 

UH opens the 2010 season next week by hosting the 16^th Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Also participating are top-ranked USC, No. 5 Penn State, and No. 10 Ohio State, all of whom competed in the NCAA Championships last season. The three-day tournament runs Jan. 7-9 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

 

USC received 13 first place votes and is followed by defending national champion UC Irvine, Stanford, Pepperdine, Penn State, BYU, Long Beach State, UCLA, Cal State Northridge, and Ohio State. Rounding out the poll is Ball State, UH, UC San Diego, Lewis, and UC Santa Barbara.