A perennially successful and ranked team, the BYU women’s volleyball program has been one of the nation’s elite since it began recording its history in 1969. The first official coaches poll started in 1980 on a bi-weekly basis and was known as the Tachikara Top Ten Division I Women’s Volleyball Poll.
The Cougars were inaugural members when the NCAA started sanctioning women’s volleyball competition in 1981, and official American Coaches Volleyball Association rankings followed a year later. Since then, with a contingency of NCAA head coaches voting, the AVCA has issued weekly rankings. From 1980 through 1994 the poll was co-sponsored by sporting goods manufacturer Tachikara. From 1995-2003 the official rankings were known as the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. In 2004 the poll was renamed the USA Today/CSTV Coaches Top 25 Poll. The poll changed sponsors yet again in 2005, becoming the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. With the exception of the initial coaches poll in 1980, each successive poll through the 1991 season was a poll of the top 20 teams in the nation. Starting in 1992, the poll expanded to the top 25 teams.
Rankings corresponding with official American Coaches Volleyball Association polls have been added to each applicable BYU opponent since the inception of the polls in 1982. Through 1986 the AVCA was known as the College Volleyball Coaches Association. There were five seasons (1987-89 and 1993-94), however, which did not have preseason polls. While, technically, all teams were unranked before the first poll in each season where there was not a preseason poll, BYU and a handful of other NCAA Division I programs and with AVCA approval have applied rankings from the final poll from the previous season to years with no preseason polls.
FINAL POLL- NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1 T | Nebraska | 27 |
1 T | Stanford | 27 |
3 | Hawai'i | 26 |
4T | UCLA | 25 |
4T | USC | 25 |
6 | Penn St. | 24 |
7 | Texas | 23 |
8 | BYU | 21 |
9T | Pacific | 20 |
9T | UCSB | 20 |
FINAL POLL- NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED TOP 5
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1 | Stanford | 20 |
2 | Nebraska | 15 |
3 | Hawai'i | 14 |
4 | UCLA | 12 |
5 | Pacific | 11 |
6T | Penn St. | 9 |
6T | USC | 9 |
8T | Florida | 8 |
8T | Long Beach St. | 8 |
10 | Washington | 4 |
11T | BYU | 3 |
11T | Texas | 3 |
FINAL POLL- NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED #1
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1 T | Stanford | 6 |
1 T | UCLA | 6 |
3 | Nebraska | 4 |
4 | Penn St. | 3 |
5T | Hawai'i | 2 |
5T | USC | 2 |
7T | BYU | 1 |
7T | Long Beach St | 1 |
7T | Pacific | 1 |
7T | Washington | 1 |
HISTORY OF BYU IN THE AVCA POLL
Year | RANK |
2008 | -- |
2007 | 12 |
2006 | 20 |
2005 | -- |
2004 | -- |
2003 | -- |
2002 | -- |
2001 | 22 |
2000 | 13 |
1999 | 13 |
1998 | 6 |
1997 | 7 |
1996 | 8 |
1995 | 23 |
1994 | 8 |
1993 | 4 |
1992 | 8 |
1991 | 9 |
1990 | 12 |
1989 | -- |
1988 | 12 |
1987 | 4 |
1986 | 1 |
1985 | 14 |
1984 | 15 |
1983 | 8 |
1982 | 13 |
NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED ALL-TIME
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1T | Nebraska | 384 |
1T | Stanford | 384 |
3 | Hawai'i | 380 |
4 | UCLA | 374 |
5 | USC | 366 |
6 | Penn St. | 334 |
7 | Texas | 326 |
8 | UCSB | 296 |
9 | BYU | 294 |
10 | Pacific | 280 |
NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED #1 ALL-TIME
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1 | Nebraska | 81 |
2 | UCLA | 51 |
3T | Hawai'i | 48 |
3T | Penn St. | 48 |
5 | Stanford | 47 |
6 | USC | 36 |
7 | Long Beach St. | 27 |
8 | Pacific | 18 |
9 | Washington | 8 |
10 | Florida | 5 |
11T | BYU | 4 |
11T | San Diego St. | 4 |
NUMBER OF TIMES RANKED TOP 10 ALL-TIME
DATE | RANKING | RECORD |
1 | Stanford | 354 |
2 | Nebraska | 350 |
3 | Hawai'i | 290 |
4 | UCLA | 284 |
5 | USC | 232 |
6 | Florida | 231 |
7 | Penn St. | 220 |
8 | Texas | 218 |
9 | Pacific | 189 |
10 | Long Beach St. | 175 |
11 | BYU | 123 |
12 | UCSB | 105 |