SAN BRUNO, Calif.-The West Coast Conference office released the 2015 volleyball preseason poll Thursday, and the Zags were picked to finish in fourth place, just one point out of third. Also, senior Savannah Blinn once again found herself on the preseason All-WCC team, as voted upon by the conference coaches.

Gonzaga received 57 points in the preseason poll, just one behind San Diego's 58 for third place. That is the highest point total and preseason rank the Zags have received under seven-year head coach Dave Gantt.

The Bulldogs posted a 17-12 record in 2014 with eight wins in WCC play, both the program's highest totals of the past 20 years. The Zags' attack was particularly strong as the squad finished among the NCAA's top 10 in assists and top 20 in kills and kills per set. Their .246 team hitting percentage was also the best of the past decade as well. Just one senior graduated after last season, and this year's squad returns all seven starters and 11 upperclassmen, including four seniors.

BYU tops the preseason poll with seven first place votes and 79 points, and Santa Clara is second with 69 points and three first place votes. After the Zags, Loyola Marymount is fifth at 52 points, just one ahead of sixth-place Pacific. Pepperdine is seventh with 31 points, Saint Mary's and San Francisco are tied for eighth, and Portland rounds out the poll in 10th.

Last season, Blinn led the WCC in four offensive categories - kills, kills per set, points, and points per set - while finishing among the nation's top 20 in each. Her 566 kills were fourth-most in GU history (and the most since the adoption of rally scoring) and she moved into fifth on the Zags' all-time career kills list with 1,274. The opposite hitter earned All-America Honorable Mention honors for her standout year and was the first Zag to do so since 1992. She also took a spot on the postseason All-WCC team for the second year in a row.

This is the Lewiston, Idaho, native's third consecutive season earning a spot on the preseason all-conference team.

Gonzaga begins the 2015 season on Friday, Aug. 28, when they host in-state foe Washington at 4:00 p.m. in the Martin Centre. That match is the first of the eighth annual Northwest Challenge, a yearly tournament involving Gonzaga, Boise State, Portland State, and Washington.

2015 WCC Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll

2015 All-WCC Preseason Volleyball Team