UCI tabbed No. 2

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

UC Irvine was in second with 112 points and four first-place votes. BYU earned the top spot with 115 points and six first-place votes. Stanford was third (92) and UCLA was fourth (90) with each team garnering a first-place vote. Long Beach State and Northridge tied for the six spot with 68 points apiece, while Pepperdine’s 62 points were eighth. The preseason poll was rounded out by Hawaii in ninth (44), UC Santa Barbara in 10th (32), followed by Pacific and UC San Diego with 26 and 11 points, respectively.

The Anteaters, who were 2007 and 2009 national champions, were MPSF semifinalists a year ago and return All-American Carson Clark as well as seniors Austin D’ Amore, Dan McDonnell and Kevin Carroll. UCI was 19-12 overall last year and ranked fourth in the final national poll.

UC Irvine opens the season on Jan. 4 hosting Cal Baptist at 7:00 p.m. in Crawford Court.

— From staff reports