Aug. 9, 2004
The Georgia Tech volleyball team begins the 2004 season ranked 12th in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Preseason Poll released on Monday. The Yellow Jackets, which return six starters to a team which finished the 2003 season with a school-record 34 wins, received 931 votes. Southern California, the defending national champion, is atop the poll, receiving 1,596 votes.
“This is exactly where we started the preseason last year and it was a great starting point for our program,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who has led the Yellow Jackets to a preseason ranking the last two years. “We’re looking forward to taking on three of the teams ranked ahead of us in the first weekend of the season and we’re confident that our schedule in the preseason will prepare us well for ACC play.”
This marks the fourth time in the program’s history that Georgia Tech has earned a preseason ranking. In 1996 the Yellow Jackets opened the season ranked No. 16, in 2001 they were ranked No. 25 while in 2003 they began the year ranked No. 12.
The Yellow Jackets open the season Aug. 27 against Southern California in the prestigious NACWAAClassic, held in Ft. Collins, Colo. Four teams on the 2004 schedule appear in the poll, including Minnesota and Colorado State, who open the year ranked fifth and 11th respectively.
| USA TODAY/AVCA DIVISION I COACHES TOP 25 Preseason Poll, August 9, 2004 | ||||
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points | 2003 Record | Last Ranking |
| 1 | USC (56) | 1,596 | 35-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Nebraska (5) | 1,417 | 28-5 | 13 |
| 3 | UCLA | 1,386 | 24-9 | 5 |
| 4 | Florida | 1,360 | 36-2 | 2 |
| 5 | Minnesota (1) | 1,318 | 26-11 | 4 |
| 6 | Stanford (2) | 1,230 | 25-7 | 10 |
| 7 | Washington | 1,170 | 23-9 | 9 |
| 8 | Penn State | 1,160 | 31-5 | 7 |
| 9 | Pepperdine | 1,091 | 27-3 | 6 |
| 10 | California (1) | 1,082 | 25-7 | 12 |
| 11 | Colorado State | 997 | 30-5 | 14 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | 931 | 34-4 | 8 |
| 13 | Hawai’i | 718 | 36-2 | 3 |
| 14 | Kansas State | 658 | 30-5 | 11 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 552 | 23-10 | 16 |
| 16 | UC Santa Barbara | 546 | 19-9 | 22 |
| 17 | Arizona | 500 | 17-15 | NR |
| 18 | Loyola Marymount | 438 | 26-7 | 17 |
| 19 | Illinois | 426 | 26-7 | 15 |
| 20 | Louisville | 304 | 25-6 | 20 |
| 21 | Northern Iowa | 272 | 28-6 | 18 |
| 22 | Santa Clara | 271 | 20-11 | 19 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 260 | 22-11 | 21 |
| 24 | Utah | 161 | 22-9 | 23 |
| 25 | Notre Dame | 136 | 23-7 | 24 |
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Maryland 112, Cincinnati 110, Long Beach State 108, San Diego 105, Texas 88, Kansas 85, Missouri 78, Michigan 68, Colorado 59, Brigham Young 58, Michigan State 45, UC Irvine 39, Pittsburgh 34, Florida A&M 27, Ohio 20, Arkansas 18, Wichita State 13, Fresno State 12, Tennessee 11, North Carolina 8, Ohio State 7, Pacific 7, Western Michigan 6, Ball State 3, Florida State 2.
