The Minnesota volleyball team is starting the season ranked No. 6 according to the USA Today/CSTV Preseason Top-25 poll, which was released on Monday, Aug. 8. Minnesota received 1,126 points in the poll.

The No. 6 preseason ranking is tied for the second-highest in school history. Last year, the Golden Gophers were the preseason No. 5 team in the nation. Minnesota was also ranked No. 6 in the 2003 preseason poll.

Last season, Minnesota finished No. 2 in the nation, after being ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll. The Golden Gophers finished No. 4 in the nation in the 2003 final poll.

The Golden Gophers were the second-highest ranked team of the four Big Teams that are in the poll. Penn State was the highest ranked team at No. 5 in the nation. After Minnesota at No. 6 is No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 12 Ohio State. Purdue and Illinois were also among teams receiving votes in the preseason poll.

Along with playing the teams from the Big Ten that are in the poll, Minnesota will also take on preseason No. 1 Nebraska on Monday, Sept. 5.

Minnesota has now started the season ranked in the top 15 in five of the last six seasons, and in the top 10 the past three seasons. Along with the No. 6 ranking this year, the Golden Gophers were also ranked No. 11 to start 2000, No. 15 to start 2001, No. 6 in 2003 and No. 5 in 2004.

Last year, Minnesota advanced to the National Championship match, finishing 33-5 with a 17-3 Big Ten record. The 33 wins were the most by a Golden Gopher team since the NCAA ERA. Minnesota also finished second or higher in the Big Ten for the fifth time in six seasons with the 17-3 finish.

The Golden Gophers start their preseason practice on Aug. 12. Minnesota will host its media day on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 12:15 p.m. For more details on practice times or other team related information please call volleyball media relations contact Steven Geller at 612-624-9396.

RankSchool (First-Place Votes)Total Points2004 Record2004 Final Rank 1 Nebraska (35) 1,463 30-2 5 2 Washington (15) 1,424 28-3 3 3 Stanford (8) 1,333 30-6 1 4 Hawai'i (1) 1,311 30-1 8 5 Penn State (1) 1,243 29-3 7 6 Minnesota 1,126 33-5 2 7 Southern California 1,075 23-6 4 8 Florida 997 28-5 15 9 Tennessee 985 32-3 10 10 Wisconsin 853 22-10 14 11 Texas 835 26-5 11 12 Ohio State 728 30-4 6 13 UCLA 696 20-11 9 14 Louisville 650 30-3 16 15 UC Santa Barbara 573 24-4 21 16 Texas A&M 518 19-9 20 17 Arizona 513 19-11 22 18 San Diego 481 24-5 12 19 California 479 17-12 18 20 Georgia Tech 304 27-7 17 21 Missouri 290 20-9 24 22 Colorado State 241 26-4 19 23 Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 217 25-4 13 24 Long Beach State 201 24-7 NR 25 Pepperdine 177 10-15 NR Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Kansas State 123, Notre Dame 118, Santa Clara 85, Utah 77, Purdue 57, Ohio 51, Illinois 44, Wichita State 41, Kansas 40, Nevada 35, Brigham Young 33, Florida A&M 23, Colorado 22, Duke 14, Loyola Marymount 9, Rice 9, Pacific 5.