Sept. 7, 1999

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After finishing 2-2 at the Long Beach State Tournament this past weekend, the Tar Heels received 81 votes in this weeks AVCA Division-I coaches poll, ranking them No. 26. Wins over No. 14 Illinois and Massachusetts and hard-fought matches versus No. 5 Long Beach State and No. 21 Southern California helped UNC rise from their preseason ranking of No. 33.

In this weeks poll, the Tar Heels next opponent, the Florida Gators, is ranked No. 6. Carolina will participate in the Inntowner Invitational this weekend in Madison, Wis., where they will face Florida on Friday and either Dayton or No. 13 Wisconsin on Saturday.

   School (1st place votes) TP    Rcd  Prv
 1 Pacific (34)             1455  5-0   6
 2 Penn State (8)           1364  4-1   1
 3 Hawai'i (9)              1359  2-0   4
 4 Long Beach State (8)     1332  4-0   5
 5 Nebraska                 1242  4-2   3
 6 Florida                  1190  4-2   8
 7 Stanford (1)             1162  1-1   2
 8 Texas                    1059  2-0  13
 9 UC Santa Barbara         1005  2-0  11
10 UCLA                     1004  2-0  10
11 Pepperdine                842  2-0  12
12 BYU                       778  2-1   7
13 Wisconsin                 656  3-1   9
14 Ohio State                597  1-0  17
15 Arizona                   595  4-1  15
16 Arkansas                  467  5-0  20
17 Texas A&M                 465  3-1  16
18 Clemson                   462  4-0  NR
19 Colorado State            440  4-0  24
20 USC                       396  1-1  21
21 U. of San Diego           369  2-1  18
22 Illinois                  229  0-2  14
23 Colorado                  192  2-1  19
24 Kansas State              148  3-1  23
25 Michigan                  133  3-0  NR

Others receiving 30 or more points: North Carolina (81), Michigan State (56), Loyola Marymount (55), Northern Iowa (41), Notre Dame (37), Indiana (35), Minnesota (30).