The Nebraska sand volleyball team has been ranked ninth in the AVCA Collegiate Sand Preseason Poll released on Monday. Defending champion Pepperdine starts the year ranked first.

The Huskers are set to begin the 2013 season next week as they head to California from March 14-22. Their opponents will include Pepperdine, Long Beach State, USC, Florida State, UCLA and Hawaii, in addition to CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon and UC-Irvine.

The top ten programs, as voted on by the participating institutions:
1. Pepperdine
2. Long Beach State
3. USC
4. Florida State
5. University of Hawai’i
6. UCLA
7. College of Charleston
8. Florida International University
9. Nebraska
10. Stanford

— Hilary Winter, Nebraska Sports Information