Lancers check in at No. 2 in first poll
California Baptist finds itself in a familiar place once again as the Lancers are No. 2 in the preseason NAIA Volleyball Ratings just behind defending national champion Fresno Pacific.
CBU, who finished 2007 at 32-5, went to its third championship game in four years and became the only team to reach the semifinals of the national tournament in each of the last four years.
The Lancers earned 692 points in the poll just behind the Sunbirds who have 715 and captured all 25 first-place votes.
Fellow Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) members Concordia, Biola and Azusa Pacific round out the top five. Point Loma Nazarene is inside the top 10 at No. 8 while Vanguard sits at No. 21. Westmont also received votes in the poll.
California Baptist kicks off its 2008 campaign Friday and Saturday in Azusa, Calif., at the Cougar Classic. The Lancers play at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. both days.
The Lancers will also be playing local Division II powers Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino.
About Michelle
Michelle Gardner has been a staff writer for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 2002 and has covered the local college sports scene since 2004. She ventured West after working at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale for eight years and is a graduate of the University of Florida.
E-mail Michelle here.
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