Pac-12 | Huskies picked to finish 3rd in preseason coaches’ volleyball poll

Krista Vansant and Kylin Muñoz both included on preseason All-Pac-12 team

With the 2013 season just around the corner, Pac-12 coaches have pegged the Washington Huskies to finish third in the conference this season.

2013 Pac-12 Coaches’
pre-season volleyball poll

1.	Stanford (10)	120
2.	USC (2)	111
3.	Washington	99
4.	Oregon	91
5.	UCLA	76
6.	Arizona State	65
7.	California	59
8.	Arizona	52
9.	Utah	49
10.	Colorado	30
11.	Washington State	21
12.	Oregon State	19

The top three teams—Stanford, USC and Washington—each return a majority of their starters from last season. Stanford, starting 4 freshmen, won the 2012 regular-season conference title, and ended the season with the nation’s top RPI. USC, starring All-American libero Natalie Hagglund and national Freshman of the Year Samantha Bricio, finished third in in the Pac-12 in 2012, one game ahead of Washington. Oregon finished second in the Pac-12 last season, and advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship, where the Ducks lost to Texas.

Washington's Kylin Muñoz (24) and Krista Vansant trade pre-match high-fives
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

The coaches’ picks for preseason all-conference player honors features two Washington players, senior Kylin Muñoz and junior Krista Vansant. 5 of the 14 players cited are sophomores; 3 others are juniors.

2013 Pac-12 Coaches’
pre-season All-Pac-12 selections

Kylin Muñoz	Washington	OH	6-1	Sr.	Monroe, WA
Krista Vansant	Washington	OH	6-2	Jr.	Redlands, CA
Carly Wopat	Stanford	MB	6-2	Sr.	Santa Barbara, CA
Inky Ajanaku	Stanford	MB	6-3	So.	Tulsa, OK
Jordan Burgess	Stanford	OH	6-1	So.	Fort Meyers, FL
Brittany Howard	Stanford	OH	6-3	So.	Los Altos, CA
Natalie Hagglund	USC	L	5-9	Sr.	Encinitas, CA
Samantha Bricio	USC	OH	6-2	So.	Guadalajara, MX
Lauren Plum	Oregon	S	5-9	Sr.	Poway, CA
Liz Brenner	Oregon	OH	6-1	Jr.	Portland, OR
Kelly Reeves	UCLA	OH	6-0	Sr.	San Diego, CA
Macey Gardner	Arizona St	OH	6-0	So.	Gilbert, AZ
Adrienne Gehan	California	OH	6-3	Sr.	Dallas, TX
Madi Kingdon	Arizona	OH	6-1	Jr.	Phoenix, AZ