August 23, 2007

UCI volleyball picked third

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team was picked to finish third in the Big West Conference in the recently released coaches’ poll.

Defending champion Cal Poly was tabbed as the favorite, collecting eight first-place votes while Long Beach State was selected second, receiving one first-place vote.

UC Irvine was picked to finish tied for third with UC Santa Barbara each team had 56 points. Cal State Northridge was selected sixth, Cal State Fullerton and Pacific were tied for sixth and UC Davis and UC Riverside rounded out the 10-team conference.

UCI, under eighth-year head coach Charlie Brande, returns all but one starter to the lineup this season and is led by all-conference firstteam selection Lauren Kellerman and honorable mention player Kristin Kelley.

Brande is just three wins away from notching 100 wins at UCI.