Just days after the Cougs ranked No. 21 in the AVCA volleyball rankings, the Cougs ranked as the second team in the Pac-12 Conference in it’s preseason poll.
WSU is slotted to finish second in the rankings, behind Stanford and just ahead of Oregon, the only non-Cardinal school to get a first-place vote. The Cougs finished with 105 points to the Ducks’ 103, barely edging them out for the runner-up nod.
The second-place mark is tied for their highest-ever position in the preseason, being the second time after the 1996 season, a season in which the team made an Elite 8 run.
Last year’s team finished third in the Conference after their 14-6 Pac-12 mark. While only losing one player from last year’s team, that player is notable. Laura Jansen played a significant role in the success of the 2022 squad, but the team has made several additions to hope to offset her lost production.
Associate head coach Burdette Greeny and the coaching staff hope that Iman Isanovic will have a pivotal role in offsetting that production, as she has the potential to be a big part of the offense in 2023.
“Laura was solid like everything. I think Iman has a bigger arm and can be more explosive. But I think she does have some things that she needs to get better at. It was good she came to spring because we were working on things,” Burdette said.
While the Cougs ranked higher than Oregon in the Conference poll, Oregon ranked at No. 9 in the AVCA poll, 12 spots higher than the Cougs. Stanford ranked No. 3 in that same poll and WSU plays several other ranked teams with No. 1 Texas and No. 4 Louisville, No. 15 Baylor, No. 18 BYU and No. 22 USC also on the schedule.
Despite the tough schedule, the team is going game by game and ensuring they recognize everyone on the schedule with the long season ahead.
“Fear no one and respect everyone. We can’t put more emphasis on one opponent compared to another, you’re playing with fire, and you’re giving your team the wrong mindset. Naturally, I think it does happen but we’re not talking about it,” Burdette said.
Although the goal every season is to win the Conference, there is an increased desire to win the last one of the Conference as fans know it. Greeny said that the team knows you do not need a Pac-12 Championship to win the national championship, so they are not too focused on one specific goal for the season.
“This is the last year of the Pac-12 as we’ve known it. You want to win the last one. I think every coach and every team is probably thinking about that. Can you win the last one? But you can win the national championship without winning the Pac-12 championship. So I think we just need to be solid,” he said.
Head coach Jen Greeny focused on the fact that the team is not getting too ahead of itself before the season has even begun. While the players and coaches have hopes and expectations for how the season will go, they also avoid taking a day for granted.
“We are pretty process-oriented and trying to take, you know, one practice at a time, one match at a time,” Jen said.
