Dec. 30, 2003
The Georgia Tech volleyball team which advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Hawaii in the NCAA Tournament ends the 2003 season ranked 8th in the final USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll released last week. The Yellow Jackets, which expereienced their best season in school history with a 34-4 record, received 1,182 votes. Southern California, this year’s national champion, is atop the poll, receiving 1,625 votes.
“Obviously, we are excited,” said head coach Bond Shymansky, who has led the Yellow Jackets to the highest final ranking in school history. “We had a fantastic season this year and experienced many ‘firsts’ along the way. Hopefully this is just the start of many successful seasons at Georgia Tech.”
This marks just the third 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 last season the team finished the year ranked No. 17. The top-10 ranking also marks the highest final ranking for any ACC school while five opponents during the 2003 season finished the year ranked in the top 25.
USA TODAY/AVCA DIVISION I COACHES TOP 25Final Poll, December 24, 2003Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2003 Record Last Ranking1 USC (65) 1,625 35-0 12 Florida 1,558 36-2 33 Hawai'i 1,494 36-2 24 Minnesota 1,370 26-11 145 UCLA 1,300 24-9 76 Pepperdine 1,232 27-3 47 Penn State 1,215 31-5 108 Georgia Tech 1,182 34-4 119 Washington 1,141 23-9 1310 Stanford 1,054 25-7 511 Kansas State 990 30-5 612 California 941 25-7 813 Nebraska 886 28-5 914 Colorado State 823 30-5 1215 Illinois 717 26-7 1516 Texas A&M 637 23-10 1717 Loyola Marymount 578 26-7 1618 Northern Iowa 502 28-6 1819 Santa Clara 380 20-11 1920 Louisville 360 25-6 2021 Wisconsin 257 22-11 2322 UC Santa Barbara 240 19-9 2123 Utah 172 22-9 2524 Notre Dame 143 23-7 2225 Maryland 113 27-8 24
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Pittsburgh 36, Kansas 33, Arkansas 25, Ohio 23, Florida A&M 18, Brigham Young 16, UC Irvine 14, Michigan 12, University of San Francisco 10, Arizona 7, Dayton 7.
