Austin College volleyball coach Ed Garza’s team finds itself ranked No. 13 in this year’s preseason CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division III Coaches Poll, the highest ranking the team has ever had to start the season and the second highest ranking achieved at any point in program history.

Last season the team began the season ranked No. 14 and climbed to as high as No. 12 before finishing the season with a record of 38-6 and a final ranking of No. 14. Austin College is one of two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams ranked in the preseason poll, with rival Trinity University coming in at No. 6, while Rhodes College and Southwestern University also received votes.

Garza’s team returns seven players who have started at some point in their careers, including senior co-captains Jessica Rose and Gloria Carey as well as setter Jessica Phillips, who was a Second Team All-SCAC selection after finishing among the national leaders in assists in 2007.

This could turn out to be an historic season for the ’Roos, as the program currently sits just 16 wins shy of 500 all-time victories. Additionally, Garza enters the season needing just 26 victories to reach 400 for his career, and the team has a chance to reach the NCAA National Tournament for the fourth straight year, a feat that’s never been accomplished in program history.

Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.