PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s volleyball team will begin its 2019 campaign nearly atop the national rankings. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation released its preseason Coaches’ poll with the Cougars ranked second behind No. 1 UCLA.

It’s just the latest big news out of the BYU athletics department. The women’s volleyball team enjoyed a historic run in where they advanced all the way to the national semifinals, where they fell in three sets to Stanford.

The Cougars fell to the Bruins last year in the NCAA national semifinals. UCLA went on to lose to Long Beach State in the championship match.

BYU will return 14 players, including All-American hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez, who led the team in kills last season as a freshman.

The Cougars’ season will begin at home against No. 8 Ohio State on January 10 at 7 p.m.