Jan. 3, 2005
The Georgia Tech volleyball team which advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to national runner-up Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament ends the 2004 season ranked 17th in the final USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll released in December. The Yellow Jackets, who ended their season with a 27-7 record, including a perfect 16-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play, received 669 votes. Stanford, this year’s national champion, is atop the poll, receiving 1,625 votes.
“Obviously, we are pleased,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who has led the Yellow Jackets to a final ranking in each of his seasons as head coach. “We struggled early this year and fell out of the polls back in September, but our team kept working hard and improved so much during the course of the season, and it paid off for us at the end of the season. I think it says a lot about the respect we earned from other coaches to end the season ranked.”
This marks just the fourth time in the program’s history that Georgia Tech has appeared in the final poll. In 1995, the Yellow Jackets ended the season ranked 22nd while in 2002 the team finished the year ranked No. 17. Last season’s ranking of No. 8 marked the highest ranking in school and ACC history. Six of Tech’s opponents during the 2004 season finished the year ranked in the top 25.
USA TODAY/AVCA DIVISION I COACHES TOP 25Final Poll, December 22, 2004Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2004 Record Last Ranking1 Stanford (65) 1,625 30-6 62 Minnesota 1,557 33-5 43 Washington 1,474 28-3 54 Southern California 1,446 23-6 85 Nebraska 1,352 30-2 16 Ohio State 1,262 30-4 77 Penn State 1,151 29-3 38 Hawai'i 1,122 30-1 29 UCLA 1,115 20-11 1310 Tennessee 996 32-3 911 Texas 950 26-5 1012 San Diego 868 24-5 1113 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 810 25-4 1214 Wisconsin 749 22-10 2215 Florida 687 28-5 1416 Louisville 684 30-3 1517 Georgia Tech 669 27-7 2018 California 496 17-12 1719 Colorado State 458 26-4 1620 Texas A&M 424 19-9 1821 UC Santa Barbara 351 24-4 1922 Arizona 275 19-11 2123 Kansas State 189 20-11 2324 Missouri 108 20-9 24-tie25 Florida A&M 91 28-3 24-tie
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Purdue, 49, Ohio 44, Long Beach State, 34, Utah, 24, Wichita State, 22, Kansas, 21, Maryland, 7, Notre Dame, 5, Pacific, 5, Santa Clara 5.
