Aug. 6, 2009

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BERKELEY - The California volleyball team received the No. 6 ranking in the 2009 Volleyball Magazine preseason poll released on Thursday (Aug. 6). The Golden Bears ended 2008 holding the seventh spot and rose to as high as the No. 4 ranking with a 17-1 record at the time. Cal debuted at No. 9 in 2008.

At the top of the rankings is defending NCAA Champion Penn State, followed by Texas and Nebraska. The Bears are just one of six Pacific-10 Conference teams featured in the first top-20 poll of the fall. Three of those teams join Cal in the top six with Washington at No. 4 and Stanford at No. 5. UCLA checks in at No. 10 with USC just two steps back at No. 12. Oregon rounds out the six Pac-10 squads as the 14th-ranked team.

The Bears will face teams ranked in the preseason poll in 13 matches this season including No. 2 Texas in their fourth match of the year. Cal takes on the second-ranked Longhorns on Thursday, Sept. 3, in Honolulu as a part of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic. Two nights later, the Bears draw a No. 17-ranked Saint Louis team before completing the tournament with a match against the host, No. 7-ranked Hawaii.

Cal returns two All-Americans from a year ago including two-time selection senior outside hitter Hana Cutura. Junior setter Carli Lloyd received second-team All-America honors and All-Pac-10 recognition a year ago. The Bears also bring back plenty of firepower via starting senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley and two 2008 Pac-10 All-Freshman selections in sophomores Tarah Murrey and Shannon Hawari. The Bears posted the best record in school history a year ago finishing with a 26-7 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Regional Final for the second year in a row.

Cal opens fall practices on Monday, Aug. 10 and kicks off the 2009 season with the Nevada Marriott Courtyard/Fairfield Invitational in Reno, Nev. Aug. 28-30. For information about tickets to home matches, please visit www.CalBears.com.

2009 Volleyball Magazine Preseason Poll

1. Penn State
2. Texas
3. Nebraska
4. Washington
5. Stanford
6. California
7. Hawaii
8. Minnesota
9. Florida
10. UCLA
11. Iowa State
12. USC
13. Illinois
14. Oregon
15. Michigan
16. San Diego
17t. Wichita State
17t. Saint Louis
19. Utah
20. Santa Clara

Others Receiving Votes: Purdue, Pepperdine, Cal Poly, Kansas State, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Wisconsin, Colorado State, Louisville, Texas A&M, Duke