Two days after landing at No. 14 in the national polls, the UAA volleyball team secured a No. 2 ranking in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll.
The Seawolves — who went 27-3 last season and 18-2 in the GNAC en route to a league title — sit behind top-ranked Western Washington in the poll, which is voted on by the conference's coaches.
The Vikings earned all 11 first-place votes and 121 points to UAA's 104. Western Washington won the NCAA Division II West Region championship last season before falling in the national semifinals.
Northwest Nazarene was picked third with 98 points.
The Seawolves open the season with a free exhibition match against a UAA alumni squad at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center before traveling to Oahu for their regular-season opener Aug. 25 against BYU-Hawaii.
The regular-season home opener is Sept. 1 against Westminster in the first match of the annual SpringHill Suites Invitational.