UCLA is back on top to start the season.
The Bruins after reaching the NCAA Tournament finals last season finished atop the preseason national coaches poll that the AVCA released on Tuesday.
Multiple All-American starters return for UCLA, including Cameron Thorne who won the 2025 Ryan Millar Award as the nation’s top middle attacker. All-American setter Andrew Rowan also guided the offense to the second-best attack percentage in the nation at .364 last season en route to the Bruins winning the MPSF regular season title.
Four teams received first-place votes in the preseason poll.
UCLA earned 12 first-place votes and 481 points to edge out No. 2 Hawai’i by eight points.
The defending NCAA champions Long Beach State received five first-place votes to finish at No. 3. In addition, USC garnered one first place vote and ended at No. 5.
Pepperdine at No. 4 rounded out the top five in the poll.
The defending MIVA champions at Loyola was the highest ranked non-West Coast team at No. 7, while Penn State at No. 13 was the highest ranked East Coast team.
Preseason National Coaches Poll
1. UCLA – 481 (12) points
2. Hawai’i – 473 (7) points
3. Long Beach State – 460 (5) points
4. Pepperdine – 412 points
5. USC – 405 (1) points
6. UC Irvine – 369 points
7. Loyola – 349 points
8. BYU – 300 points
9. Stanford – 292 points
10. UC San Diego – 246 points
11. CSUN – 238 points
12. Lewis – 225 points
13. Penn State – 193 points
14. Ohio State – 179 points
15. McKendree – 167 points
16. Ball State – 144 points
17. UC Santa Barbara – 125 points
18. Princeton – 60 points
19. George Mason – 40 points
20. Lincoln Memorial – 30 points
Others receiving votes: Belmont Abbey 18; NJIT 15; Fort Valley State 9; Charleston 4; Saint Francis 3