Bruins Picked Third in Pac-12 Preseason Poll

SAN FRANCISCO – The UCLA women’s volleyball team was slotted to finish third in the 2022 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches’ Preseason Poll, the conference announced Monday afternoon. The Bruins received one first place vote.
 
Washington was picked as the preseason conference champion, garnering eight of 12 first-place votes. Stanford was selected to finish second with two first-place votes.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Charitie Luper and incoming graduate middle blocker Lauren Forte were both selected to the All-Pac-12 Preseason Team.
 
Luper was a four-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week last season, ranking second on the squad with 227 kills despite playing in only 18 of UCLA’s 31 matches. Luper’s 3.39 kills per set were second only to Mac May (4.85 KPS). The duo led all Pac-12 scoring tandems through October of conference play with a combined 388 kills and 480 points prior to Luper’s injury.
 
Forte transfers into Westwood from Florida after a pair of All-SEC and AVCA All-American honors. In her two seasons as a Gator, Forte averaged 1.02 blocks per set (147.0 total blocks) and 2.06 kills per set at a .422 hitting percentage.
 
Season Preview
In addition to returning Luper, UCLA brings back All-Pac-12 Team middle blocker Anna Dodson and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention outside hitter élan McCall.
 
The trio of Bruins helped push UCLA to sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 standings in 2021 after defeating Washington State (Oct. 29) and Washington (Oct. 31). It was the first time the Bruins sat atop the conference standings since 1999.
 
UCLA made up for the losses of its 2021 starting setter Shelby Martin and libero Zoe Fleck with a pair of All-ACC signings with Matti McKissock and Mackenzie Cole.
 
McKissock was All-ACC First Team twice in Fall 2021 and 2019 and named the ACC Setter of the Year in 2019. Last season, McKissock helped produce two AVCA First Team All-American attackers in Julia Bergmann and Mariana Brambilla with an ACC-best 11.81 assists per set.
 
Cole, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year, was an AVCA All-East Coast Region honoree in her final two seasons for the Duke Blue Devils. Cole has led Duke in digs and digs per set in each of the last four seasons, accumulating 1,664 digs which ranks fifth all-time in the Blue Devils’ record books.
 
2022 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
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