University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Enter 2018 Season Ranked Third
February 20, 2018 | Beach Volleyball
UCLA picked up a preseason ranking of No. 3 in both the AVCA and DiG Magazine polls.
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LOS ANGELESย -- The UCLA Bruins are ranked No. 3 in both the DiG Magazine and AVCAย Collegiate Beach Coaches preseason polls that were released yesterday. The top three in each poll is the same with USC coming in as the preseason favorite and Pepperdineย right behind the Trojans. Those two teams met last year in the NCAA Championship game, won by the Trojans. But the Trojans lost five seniors to graduation and the Waves lost six players (three graduate students) to graduation. The Bruins lost one graduate student (Kamila Tan) and one senior (Jordan Anderson) to graduation and one freshman (Torrey Van Winden) to transfer.
But former LMU No. 1 player, Sarah Sponcil,ย transferred into UCLA for her final two seasons on the beach and is ready to play for the Bruins this season. That, coupled with a strong nucleus of returners that finished last season 30-6 overall (30 wins were a school record), and a strong incoming recruiting class, have the Bruins at No. 3 with four first-place votes (second behind USC), despite a disappointing fifth-place finish at last year's NCAA Championship.
The Bruins will find out how they stack up early on with the nation's top teams as they will face No. 4/5 Hawai'i twice in the opening weekend (Feb. 24-25) in Honolulu.
UCLA will then face No. 1 USC and No. 2 Pepperdineย twice during the following week. The Bruins will take on both teams at USC's Merle Norman Stadium on Wednesday, Feb. 28 live on the Pac-12 Networks. Then the three teams will square off again in Malibu, Calif., at Zumaย Beach on Saturday, March 3.
Additionally, the first 14 opponents of the 2018 season are all preseason ranked in the top 20 in both polls.
No. 3 UCLA will open the 2018 season this Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Rainbow Wahine Classic at 12:00 p.m. PT vs. No. 17/14 Stanford, followed by 6:00 p.m. PT clash at No. 5/4 Hawai'i.
AVCAย COLLEGIATE BEACH COACHES POLL (Preseason - Feb. 19, 2018)
| Rank | School | 2017 Record | 2017 Final Rank | |
| 1 | Southern California | 38-1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Pepperdine | 27-5 | 2 | |
| 3 | UCLA | 30-6 | 5 | |
| 4 | Florida State | 29-9 | 4 | |
| 5 | Hawai'i | 29-7 | 3 | |
| 6 | LSU | 27-8 | 6 | |
| 7 | Long Beach State | 26-10 | 7 | |
| 8 | South Carolina | 23-11 | 8 | |
| 9 | Arizona | 17-10 | 9 | |
| 10 | Grand Canyon | 17-9 | 12 | |
| 11 | Florida International | 24-15 | 10 | |
| 12 | Georgia State | 21-14 | 11 | |
| 13 | TCU | 18-8 | 13 | |
| 14 | Cal Poly | 15-23 | NR | |
| 15 | Stetson | 20-13 | 15 | |
| 16 | Florida Atlantic | 21-12 | 14 | |
| 17 | Stanford | 13-10 | NR | |
| 18 | Tulane | 24-13 | NR | |
| 19 | Washington | 11-7 | NR | |
| 20 | Loyola Marymount | 15-14 | NR |
Also receiving votes (appears on 2 or more ballots): Arizona State, California, Saint Mary's, New Mexico, Nebraska, Florida Gulf Coast, UAB, Utah, UNC-Wilmington, Central Arkansas, North Florida, Oregon.
DiG MAGAZINE COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL POLLย (Preseason - Feb. 19, 2018)
| Rank | School | 2017 Record | 2017 Final Rank | |
| 1 | USC (8) | 38-1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Pepperdineย (2) | 27-5 | 2 | |
| 3 | UCLA (4) | 30-6 | 5 | |
| 4 | Hawai'i (1) | 29-7 | 3 | |
| 5 | Florida State | 27-7 | 4 | |
| 6 | LSU | 27-8 | 6 | |
| 7 | Long Beach State | 26-10 | 7 | |
| 8 | Arizona | 15-8 | 8 | |
| 9 | South Carolina | 23-11 | 9 | |
| 10 | Grand Canyon | 17-8 | 11 | |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 15-23 | NR | |
| 12 | Florida International | 24-15 | 10 | |
| 13 | TCU | 18-8 | 12 | |
| 14 | Stanford | 13-10 | 19 | |
| 15 | Stetson | 20-13 | 17 | |
| 16 | Georgia State | 21-14 | 13 | |
| 17 | Loyola Marymount | 15-14 | 14 | |
| 18 | Washington | 11-7 | NR | |
| 19 | Arizona State | 16-16 | 18 | |
| 20 | Tulane | 24-13 | 20 |
Also receiving votes: California, Florida Atlantic, St. Mary's, San Jose State, New Mexicoย (First-place votes in parentheses).
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