Hawai’i is the No. 1 team in the inaugural VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll.
The Rainbow Wahine of the Big West Conference got nine of the 10 first-place votes. The other went to Creighton of the Big East, which is ranked third. The No. 2 team is BYU of the West Coast Conference.
The VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll includes teams from the 27 non power conferences and is the first of its type in NCAA volleyball.
Hawai’i lost to Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament regional final last December and returns its top player, Big West player of the year Nikki Taylor.
“We’re honored to be ranked No. 1 in this inaugural poll and proud to represent the Big West Conference,” Hawai’i associate head coach Jeff Hall said. “The ranking is a testament not only to what our players accomplished last year, but also to the possibilities ahead.
“Now the hard part begins. We have a lot of work to accomplish and a very tough schedule, particularly early on. But I’m confident our team will be up to the challenge.”
BYU last season was ousted from the NCAA Tournament by eventual-champion Nebraska. Creighton was a big surprise on the national scene and lost to USC in the round of 16.
Rounding out the top 10 are Loyola Marymount, Western Kentucky, Colorado State, San Diego, Arkansas State, Wichita State and Marquette.
| Rank | School | Total Points Adjusted | First Place Votes Adjusted | Win/Loss Record | Previous Rank |
| 1 | Hawai’i | 249 | 9 | 0-0 | NR |
| 2 | BYU | 234 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 3 | Creighton | 222 | 1 | 0-0 | NR |
| 4 | Loyola Marymount | 217 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 5 | Western Kentucky | 208 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 6 | Colorado State | 200 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 7 | San Diego | 197 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 8 | Arkansas State | 173 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 9 | Wichita State | 163 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 10 | Marquette | 154 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 11 | Long Beach State | 151 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 12 | Dayton | 144 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 13 | Missouri State | 107 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| T-14 | Northern Arizona | 102 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| T-14 | Santa Clara | 102 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 16 | SMU | 83 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 17 | Villanova | 67 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 18 | Southern Illinois | 63 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 19 | Wyoming | 59 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 20 | Lipscomb | 55 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 20 | Ohio | 55 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 22 | Boise State | 49 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 23 | Northern Iowa | 42 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 24 | Xavier | 32 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
| 25 | American | 24 | 0 | 0-0 | NR |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Saint Louis 14; New Mexico State 11; Illinois State 10; UT San Antonio 8; Northern Colorado 7; Rice 7; Pacific 6; 9 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 37 combined points.
The pollsters
— Dan Conners, UC Davis
— Brian Doyon, Montana
— Greg Goral, Campbell University
— Kris Grunwald, UConn
— Justin Ingram, Southern Illinois University
— Steve Loeswick, North Florida
— Kent Miller, Saint Louis University
— Coley Pawlikowski, Stony Brook
— Jennifer Petrie, University of San Diego
— Dave Rehr, Arkansas State University
The conferences from which the teams will come:
— America East
— American Athletic
— Atlantic Sun
— Atlantic 10
— Big East
— Big Sky
— Big South
— Big West
— Colonial
— Conference USA
— Horizon League
— Ivy
— Metro Atlantic
— Mid-American
— Mid-Eastern
— Missouri Valley
— Mountain West
— Northeast
— Ohio Valley
— Patriot
— Southern
— Southland
— Southwestern
— Summit
— Sun Belt
— West Coast
— Western Athletic
