ROHNERT PARK, Calif- For the first time in school history, the Sonoma State women's volleyball team will head into its first match ranked as one of the top 25 teams in the nation. In a preseason coaches poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) this week, the Seawolves are ranked 21st in the national poll.

Sonoma State spent all of one week last season ranked among the top 25, getting as high as the No. 13 team in the AVCA poll -- the highest ranking in program history. After being not ranked in the preseason poll in 2009, the Seawolves appeared at No. 24 in week one and remained in the national spotlight all season.

Head coach Bear Grassl, who will be entering his ninth season at the helm for SSU, has reached the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament in each of the past two seasons with a pair of 23-win seasons. Grassl (124-99) and the Seawolves will kick off their 2010 schedule hosting the fifth annual Seawolf Spike -- an eight-team tournament set for Sept. 3-4 on the campus of Sonoma State University.

Following the Spike, SSU will launch into California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play when it travels to Cal State East Bay on Sept. 10. The Seawolves will play their first conference home game on Sept. 24 when they host Cal Poly Pomona at 7 p.m. in The Wolves' Den. Earlier this week, a preseason poll of conference coaches tabbed Sonoma State to finish fourth in the 12-team conference.

Three other CCAA schools are ranked in the AVCA preseason poll -- national runner-up Cal State San Bernardino (2), UC San Diego (8) and Cal State L.A. (14). CSULA knocked the Seawolves out of the opening round of the NCAA tournament last season.