Men’s Volleyball: UCI starts season ranked No. 8

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team was ranked eighth in the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Division I-II Men’s Coaches Top 15 Preseason Poll.

The Anteaters will play 10 of the 14 other ranked teams and all three teams receiving votes.

UCI garnered 159 points. Defending champion Ohio State was ranked No. 1 with 359 points and 23 first-place votes. UCLA followed in second with the only other first-place vote. BYU was third, Long Beach State fourth and Pepperdine in fifth. Lewis and Hawaii take the two places ahead of the Anteaters.

UCI returns 14 letter winners, including All-American Tamir Hershko and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honoree Michael Saeta.

The Anteaters begin the season at Concordia on Thursday before returning home to entertain Fort Wayne on Tuesday, UC San Diego (Jan. 5) and Grand Canyon (Jan. 6).

— From staff reports