Each release of the national rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association since early 2002 has included the University of Minnesota Duluth. Zeroing in on 16-plus years in the national rankings, the Bulldogs came in at No. 3 in the national preseason coaches' poll released Thursday afternoon. UMD, which finished 26-7 overall in 2017, has been ranked in every poll since Sept. 10, 2002 -- a stretch of 219 consecutive polls, the longest active streak in Division II.

Similar to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coaches' preseason poll, the AVCA poll placed Concordia University, St. Paul, Southwest Minnesota State University and the Bulldogs in the top three, ranked in that order, as well. UMD complied 1015 points and slid up one spot from the final poll last year. In total, six NSIC teams cracked the preseason top 25, with defending NCAA II champions Concordia-St. Paul receiving 1198 points and all but one (Lewis University nabbed the other) of the 48 first-place votes. SMSU (No. 2, 1077 points), Winona State University (No. 5), Northern State University (9th, 729), Winona State University (17th, 397) and Augustana University (23th, 215) rounded out the league's representatives in the rankings.

UMD, which officially started practice yesterday, kicks off the 2018 season in St. Augustine, Fla. The Bulldogs will take on both the University of Findley and host Flagler College, whom both received votes in the preseason poll, in the Flagler Saints Invitational on Aug. 24.