Aug. 20, 2009

ST. LOUIS - For the first time in program history, Saint Louis volleyball will enter the season with a national ranking after coming in at No. 20 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Billikens' ranking ties the best ranking in program annals after they garnered 297 points to reach No. 20 on Nov. 10, 2008. SLU, which received 354 points in the AVCA poll, was ranked No. 17 in the Volleyball Magazine Preseason Top 20 Poll earlier this month.

Five of the Bills' foes this season are ranked among the top 10. Two-time defending national champion Penn State is the preseason favorite, while Texas was selected No. 2. SLU opponents California, Hawai'i and Illinois were ranked No. 6, 7 and 10, respectively.

Saint Louis finished the 2008 campaign with a 29-5 overall mark and a 13-0 ledger in Atlantic 10 Conference action, becoming the first team to finish the league slate unbeaten since 1997. After capturing their second regular-season conference title, the Bills went on to win the A-10 Championship, seizing the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in the last three seasons. SLU, which earned the 13th overall seed in the tournament, made history when it achieved the program's first NCAA Tournament victory.

Earlier in the 2008 campaign, the Billikens broke into the Bison/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll for the first time in program annals. Saint Louis, which received votes in every poll, finished one of the best seasons in program history ranked No. 21 and completed one of the toughest schedules in the country ranked eighth in the final RPI (ratings percentage index).

SLU, which is the preseason favorite in the A-10 for the third straight season, returns five of its six starters and more AVCA All-Americans (four) than all but Penn State, a team the Bills will face in their first tournament of the season. The Nittany Lions are one of nine teams on Saint Louis' 2009 schedule that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Billikens kick off the season with the Active Ankle Challenge at Chaifetz Arena Aug. 28-29. The tournament features Alabama as well as 2008 NCAA Tournament squads Miami (Ohio) and Penn State.