Aug. 12, 1999

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame volleyball team will begin its season as the favorite to claim its fifth-consecutive BIG EAST conference title in a poll of the conference’s 12 coaches released today.

The Irish, who finished their 1998 season with a 18-13 record overall and a 9-2 mark in the BIG EAST, received 119 of the possible 132 points, including nine of the 12 first-place votes. Notre Dame edged out second-place Georgetown, who garnered three first-place votes, by seven points for the top spot. Following the Hoyas is Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia, St. John’s, Syracuse, Villanova, Seton Hall, Boston College and Providence. BIG EAST regular season play begins for the Irish at home on October 1 at 8 p.m. versus West Virginia.

The BIG EAST also released the coaches’ selections for the six-member preseason all-conference squad. Notre Dame is represented by junior setter Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.), last year’s preseason player of the year, and junior outside hitter Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.), who made the 1998 all-BIG EAST second team. Other members of the team include Georgetown’s Yulia Vtyurina and Kiran Gill, Rutgers’ Lola Opadiran and Pittsburgh’s Paula Zemrowski. Vtyurina was selected as the preseason player of the year.

In a national poll also released today by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and USA Today, Notre Dame received the 29th-most votes (82). The Irish are scheduled to face three teams in the AVCA top 20 this season including sixth-ranked Pacific (Sept. 4, Nov. 27), eighth-ranked Brigham Young (Oct. 19) and 24th-ranked Colorado State (Sept. 25). Also in the poll are future 1999 opponents Louisville (26th most votes), Clemson (28th), Utah (33), Sacramento State (34), Miami, Ohio (36), Washington State (41), Illinois State (50) and Georgetown (52).

At the top of the USA Today/AVCA poll this season is Penn State, which lost the 1998 NCAA title match to Long Beach State. Penn State garnered 30 of the 60 first place votes, followed by Stanford (20), which eliminated the Irish from last year’s NCAA Tournament in the second round.

1999 BIG EAST Volleyball Preseason Poll

                             1998 Records              1998 Rank School         Points  BIG EAST Overall   Regular Season Finish 1.  Notre Dame (9)   119      9-2     18-13            3rd 2.  Georgetown (3)   112     10-1      24-6          T-1st 3.  Connecticut       96     10-1     22-11          T-1st 4.  Pittsburgh        90      5-6     16-14          T-6th 5.  Rutgers           83      6-5     16-14          T-4th 6.  West Virginia     71      6-5     13-15          T-4th 7.  St. John's        52      5-6     19-15          T-6th 8.  Syracuse          49      3-8     19-13         T-10th 9.  Villanova         36      4-7     12-16            9th10.  Seton Hall        34      3-8     11-16         T-10th11.  Boston College    22     0-11     12-19           12th12.  Providence        18      5-6     16-14          T-6th() Denote first-place votes

1999 BIG EAST Preseason Awards

All-BIG EAST Team
Denise Boylan, Notre Dame
Christi Girton, Notre Dame
Kiran Gill, Georgetown*
Yulia Vtyurina, Georgetown
Lola Opadiran, Rutgers
Paula Zemrowski, Pittsburgh
* = unanimous selection

Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year
Yulia Vtyurina, Georgetown

NOTRE DAME’S HISTORY IN THE AVCA POLL

First Ranking:             1992 (24h in preseason poll)Highest Ranking:            7th (10/16/95)Highest Final Ranking:     12th (1994)Consecutive Weeks Ranked:    66 (9/9/92 - 11/5/96)
YEAR PRESEASON  HIGHEST                   FINAL1992    N.R.     20th (final poll)         22nd1993   19th      11th (10/26/93)           17th1994   17th      11th (11/15/94)           12th1995   11th       7th (9/19/95)            14th1996    9th       8th (9/3/95)             25th1997   17th      17th (preseason)          18th1998   16th      16th (preseason)          NR1999     NR           (29th-most votes)

1999 AVCA/USA Today Division I Coaches Top 25
Preseason Poll, August 12, 1999

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points  1998 Record  Final 1998 Ranking 1   Penn State (30)               1,420          35-1            2 2   Stanford (20)                 1,387          27-4            9 3   Nebraska (1)                  1,284          32-2            3 4   Hawai'i (3)                   1,258          32-3            5 5   Long Beach State (5)          1,226          36-0            1 6   Pacific                       1,196          26-6           10 7   BYU                           1,186          31-4            6 8   Florida                       1,169          35-3            4  9   Wisconsin                       963          30-5            710   UCLA (1)                        815         16-12           1611   UC Santa Barbara                781          28-6           1212   Pepperdine                      722         19-11           1513   Texas                           667          27-5            814   Illinois                        644         22-11           1415   Arizona                         621          22-7           2016   Texas A&M                       562          21-9           1817   Ohio State                      517         17-14           2418   University of San Diego         500          24-6           1919   Colorado                        336          22-7           1720   Arkansas                        322          29-6           1321   USC                             314          24-6           1122   Michigan State                  294          23-7           2223   Kansas State                    202         19-12           2324   Colorado State                  173          24-8           NR25   Loyola Marymount                144          18-8           NR
Others receiving votes: Louisville (95), Texas Tech (89), Clemson (89),Notre Dame (82), Minnesota (64), Indiana (58), Santa Clara (36), NorthCarolina (30), Utah (24), Sacramento State (23), Northern Iowa (22), Miami,Ohio (17), Baylor (16), Georgia Tech (15), Virginia (12), Houston (12),Washington State (10), Washington (9), Florida State (7), Arizona State(7), South Florida (5), Northern Illinois (5), San Jose State (4), SouthCarolina (3), Eastern Washington (3), Illinois State (3), Oral Roberts (3),Georgetown (2), Ball State (2), UNLV (1), Temple (1), Nevada (1), Ohio (1).