Aug. 17, 2016
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State has been picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West in 2016 in a poll of the league’s 11 head coaches, the MW announced today.
A voting panel comprised of the 11 Mountain West head women’s volleyball coaches chose seven-time defending league champion Colorado State as the favorite to win the 2015 MW regular season title. The No. 25-ranked Rams collected six first-place votes and 96 total points. Boise State placed second with 96 points and four first-place nods. The final first-place vote went to Wyoming, which was picked third with 80 points.
New Mexico was selected fourth with 66 points, followed by San Diego State and UNLV tied fifth with 64 points apiece. Nevada (47) and Fresno State (35) captured in seventh and eighth place, while Utah State landed in ninth with 28. San José State and Air Force rounded out the poll in 10th and 11th place with 21 and 12 points respectively.
San Diego State returns six starters (Including a pair of 2015) all-conference selections)and its libero along with three other letterwinners and a trio of redshirt freshman from last year’s squad that posted a 12-19 record (9-9 MW), finishing fifth in the final league standings. The Aztecs have added seven new faces for the 2016 campaign including an all-state athletes from Texas, an all-district player from Texas, a pair of first-team all-league selections from California and a setter who was named to the Atlantic 10 all-rookie team as a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth in 2015.
San Diego State opens its 2016 season on Friday, Aug. 26, as it hosts the annual Aztec Invitational. SDSU kicks off the season with a match vs. the Marist that evening at 7:30 p.m. and will also have contests the following day (Saturday Aug. 27) against Michigan State at 10:30 a.m. and Denver at 7:00 p.m.2015 MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL POLL Team (1st-place votes) Pts 1. Colorado State (6).......96 2. Boise State (4)..........92 3. Wyoming (1)..............80 4. New Mexico...............66 5. San Diego State..........64 UNLV.....................64 7. Nevada...................47 8. Fresno State.............35 9. Utah State...............2810. San José State...........2111. Air Force................12