USC Picked Second in 2018 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll

SAN FRANCISCO – The USC women's volleyball team was chosen to finish second in a preseason poll of the Pac-12 Conference head coaches as announced by the league on Wednesday, Aug. 15. All-American junior outside hitter Khalia Lanier was selected to the 14-member preseason all-conference team for the second consecutive season.

The Women of Troy finished in a second-place tie at the end of the 2017 season after the coaches voted USC to finish fifth. This season, the Trojans received Stanford's first-place vote while the defending league champion Cardinal received the maximum 11 first-place votes and was chosen to repeat as league champion.

Stanford's 121 points stood atop the poll with USC at 100. Oregon checked in in third place at 96 points with UCLA in fourth at 90 points. Colorado was picked to finish fifth with 89 points and was followed by Washington (73) and Washington State (64). Utah (47) checked in at the eighth spot. The bottom third of the coaches' poll had Arizona in ninth place (46) followed by Oregon State (27), Arizona State (24), and California (15).

The coaches have successfully predicted the league champion only once in the previous six seasons (Stanford, 2014). Prior to that, USC was also correctly chosen to win in 2011. Last year, Washington sat atop the coaches' poll but finished in a second-place tie with the Trojans as Stanford won its 17th conference championship.

USC is the owner of five league championships as a member of the Pac-10/Pac-12. The Trojans' last title was won in 2015 as co-champions with Washington. USC also claimed the first-ever Pac-12 title in 2011. The Women of Troy also own championships from the 2000, 2002, and 2003 seasons.

No. 10-ranked USC opens 2018 as host of the Trojan Invitational (Aug. 24-25) at Galen Center. No. 5 Kentucky, No. 13 Creighton, and Northern Iowa visit for the two-day round-robin tournament. The Women of Troy will play their next three non-conference tourneys on the road, which includes a return to Gainesville, Fla.; the site of their final match in the 2017 NCAA regional final. There, USC takes on host No. 7 Florida, Louisville, and Central Florida, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, in the Bubly Invitational, at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Women of Troy also take on No. 8 BYU (Sept. 7) and No. 14 San Diego (Sept. 14) in other non-conference action.

This fall is the inaugural season for first-year USC head coach Brent Crouch, who was hired to lead the program in January. The Trojans return the services of 2017 leading scorer Khalia Lanier (4.86 pps). Now a junior, Lanier was named a first-team AVCA All-American last year. USC's pin-attack will also feature sophomore Brooke Botkin, who became a top contributor to close her freshman campaign (2.07 kps). Senior libero Victoria Garrick returns after she became the program's 17th player to collect over 1,000 career digs last year. The Trojans' starting setters senior Reni Meyer-Whalley and junior Cindy Marina also return to the lineup along with junior defensive specialist Jenna Adams, who appeared in all but one match in 2017.

Last season, the Women of Troy (25-10) received the 10th seed and appeared in the program's 27th consecutive NCAA championship tournament (35th all-time). The Trojans defeated Central Arkansas in the first round and upended No. 9-ranked San Diego in the second round to advance to the Gainesville Regional Championship hosted by No. 2-seed Florida. There, USC took down seventh-seeded Minnesota in a three-set sweep to advance to the team's sixth NCAA regional title match in eight years. The Women of Troy finished in second place in the Pac-12 (14-6) after being selected to finish sixth in the coaches' preseason poll.

Fans can purchase season and single-match tickets at USCTrojans.com/tickets. For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Players Mentioned

Jenna Adams

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Khalia Lanier

Cindy Marina

Reni Meyer-Whalley