MADISON, Wis. – For the fourth straight year, the Wisconsin volleyball team opens the season among the top-10 teams in the nation. The Badgers are ranked No. 7 in the 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 preseason poll, released Wednesday.

It is the ninth time in program history that UW is ranked in the top-10 and the fourth straight year under head coach Kelly Sheffield. Wisconsin was ranked fourth in 2016, tied for fifth in 2015, and sixth in 2014.

Texas (27-5 in 2016) leads the poll with reigning NCAA champion Stanford (27-7) coming in second. Washington (29-5), Minnesota (29-5) and Nebraska (31-3) round out the top five, respectively.

The Big Ten Conference dominates the poll with four teams in the top 10 and eight teams in the top 25. Penn State (24-10) ranks sixth with the Badgers (28-5) seventh. Michigan (24-11) and Michigan State (25-9) are 16^th and 17^th, respectively. Ohio State (22-13) comes in at No. 21 while Purdue (19-14) rounds out the poll at No. 25.

In addition to its Big Ten opponents in 2017, Wisconsin will also play No. 11 North Carolina (29-4) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Kansas State (21-10), which receives votes, at the K-State Invitational, and Texas A&M (21-9), which also receives votes, at the HotelRED Invitational.

The Badgers began practice on Tuesday and will host a Cardinal vs. White scrimmage on Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the UW Field House. Admission is free. The season kicks off on Aug. 25-26 when Wisconsin hosts the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
 
2017 AVCA Preseason Top-25 Coaches Poll
 

Rk.	Team	Pts.	2016  Record	2016    Final
1	Texas (25)	1547	27-5	2
2	Stanford (35)	1533	27-7	1
3	Washington (2)	1370	29-5	7
4	Minnesota (2)	1349	29-5	3
5	Nebraska	1313	31-3	4
6	Penn State	1249	24-10	10
7	Wisconsin	1145	28-5	5
8	Kansas	1085	27-3	12
9	Creighton	1007	29-7	9
10	BYU	975	29-4	8
11	North Carolina	939	29-4	11
12	Florida	925	27-4	15
13	UCLA	866	27-7	6
14	Kentucky	654	23-8	23
15	Florida State	641	26-6	13
16	Michigan	615	24-11	14
17	Michigan State	523	25-9	19
18	Oregon	498	21-10	21
19	Missouri	424	27-6	16
20	Hawai'i	343	23-6	17
21	Ohio State	332	22-13	18
22	San Diego	287	24-6	22
23	Utah	203	20-12	25
24	Arizona	174	20-15	20
25	Purdue	147	19-14	RV

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Southern California 105; Western Kentucky 98; Dayton 71; Washington State 67; Iowa State 62; Colorado State 55; Pittsburgh 49; Baylor 37; Kansas State 36; Boise State 21; Wichita State 7; Texas A&M 6; SMU 2