Florida Atlantic Volleyball placed 13th out of 15 teams in Conference USA's 2013 Preseason Poll released on Wednesday.

The Owls are looking to build upon last season's 7-9, 2-13 SBC final mark; which more than doubled their win total from the previous year, and will see the introduction of 12 newcomers for the 2103 slate.

Six players who could have returned will not do so, leaving the roster with 16 members as the season nears.

Below are the results of the poll at large. Former fellow Sun Belt members Florida International, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas each secured higher rankings.


2013 C-USA PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL POLL

1. Rice (3)
2. Tulsa (4)
2. UTSA (2)
4. North Texas (3)
5. UTEP
6. Middle Tennessee (2)
7. UAB
8. Marshall
9. FIU
10. Tulane
11. Southern Miss
12. Charlotte
13. Florida Atlantic
14. Louisiana Tech
15. East Carolina

(#) denotes first place votes

So many of FAU's other smaller sports are just so bad. I can't understand why we can't fix them.

owlcountry40 said

So many of FAU's other smaller sports are just so bad. I can't understand why we can't fix them.

And in this case it can't be a facility issue - the Burrow has to be a pretty awesome (at least typical) venue for volleyball.

I think what happened with some of these other sports (soccer, volleyball, golf, etc) is that, since they're non-revenue sports anyway, Athletics basically ignored them for a long time.

Volleyball did get a new coach though. So they may turn it around.

I still don't understand the whole sand/indoor volleyball thing though, if they're two separate teams or the same team playing two different seasons…

Owl2Doc said

owlcountry40 said

So many of FAU's other smaller sports are just so bad. I can't understand why we can't fix them.

And in this case it can't be a facility issue - the Burrow has to be a pretty awesome (at least typical) venue for volleyball.

I think what happened with some of these other sports (soccer, volleyball, golf, etc) is that, since they're non-revenue sports anyway, Athletics basically ignored them for a long time.

Volleyball did get a new coach though. So they may turn it around.

I still don't understand the whole sand/indoor volleyball thing though, if they're two separate teams or the same team playing two different seasons…

Like how in the hell is outer golf team not good we are in south florida there might be more golfers here per Capitol them anywhere else I'm sure there are a
million people down here who could coach a golf team and do it for cheap.

owlcountry40 said

Like how in the hell is outer golf team not good we are in south florida there might be more golfers here per Capitol them anywhere else I'm sure there are a
million people down here who could coach a golf team and do it for cheap.

Very good question. I would think it has everything to do with the quality of the coach you hire.

According to these national rankings, Cal is #1, UF is #11, FSU is #12 and…. UNF is #19 in the nation. Three Florida schools in the Top 25, none of which are us.

Looking at Division 2: Nova is #1, Barry is #2, Florida Southern (wherever that is) is #3 and Lynn is #5! Four Florida schools in the top 5 and one is right next door!

We can't get one of those coaches? Then again, they're private schools and maybe (who knows) they're willing to pay a lot more than what we're paying. I'm sure Cal, Alabama and Florida definitely are. But UNF? Barry? I honestly didn't even know Barry had athletics.

New volleyball coach should move things in the right direction for us.

As for golf, you guys are right, it's amazing that we've not been able to recruit talented golfers in what is most likely the biggest hotbed for recruiting in the country. You've got to think it's the coach, and facilities. Angelo has been with FAU for a long time, and I think it's another instance of a non revenue generating sport getting ignored. but we've got to make some inroads at a facility too, I can't believe our golfers play at Ocean Breeze, that's pathetic. Nova's golf team uses the facility at Grande Oaks right by campus (the school does own the course) but it's arguably the best practice facility (with some solid coaches) in south florida outside of PGA Village in PSL. If I"m a local HS golfer and have the choice of playing at Nova or playing at FAU, 10 times out of 10 I pick Nova. Better pedigree, better facilities and it seems like the school actually cares a little bit about the sport.

TeamBeer said

New volleyball coach should move things in the right direction for us.

As for golf, you guys are right, it's amazing that we've not been able to recruit talented golfers in what is most likely the biggest hotbed for recruiting in the country. You've got to think it's the coach, and facilities. Angelo has been with FAU for a long time, and I think it's another instance of a non revenue generating sport getting ignored. but we've got to make some inroads at a facility too, I can't believe our golfers play at Ocean Breeze, that's pathetic. Nova's golf team uses the facility at Grande Oaks right by campus (the school does own the course) but it's arguably the best practice facility (with some solid coaches) in south florida outside of PGA Village in PSL. If I"m a local HS golfer and have the choice of playing at Nova or playing at FAU, 10 times out of 10 I pick Nova. Better pedigree, better facilities and it seems like the school actually cares a little bit about the sport.

 I know some FAU golfers and most of them are not fans of the coach to say the least and he as been here for a long time.

TeamBeer said

New volleyball coach should move things in the right direction for us.

Agreed.

TeamBeer said

You've got to think it's the coach, and facilities. Angelo has been with FAU for a long time, and I think it's another instance of a non revenue generating sport getting ignored. But we've got to make some inroads at a facility too, I can't believe our golfers play at Ocean Breeze, that's pathetic.

Hm. Did not know that. Athletics website says "The Fountains Country Club is located in Lake Worth, FL and was named the home of the FAU Golf Team during the 2009-2010 season." Guess it hasn't been updated. What's so bad about the Ocean Breeze course? I've never seen it (nor do I know enough about golfing to rate it) so I don't know.

Owl2Doc said

TeamBeer said

I can't believe our golfers play at Ocean Breeze, that's pathetic.

What's so bad about the Ocean Breeze course?

Someone else plays at Ocean Breeze……………

It' snot that bad. They just have some challenges with crab grass.

Talked to my mom who works at an exclusive Boca country club with two nice golf courses. I asked her how much it would cost to buy and maintain a golf course. She didn't know how much it cost to build a new one but said that maintenance overall is $4M for their two golf courses - so $2M for a single golf course per year. And that's with them already owning the maintenance equipment. They spend something like $45k per year on sand alone.

Buying a new golf course is about $5M+ from what I can find on the net.

The USGA says that,"With average golf course construction costs typically ranging from $1.6 to $4.5 million, and the total cost of putting a new course on line frequently exceeding $10 million, just getting the course opened is extremely expensive. After opening, the facility obviously must be maintained. Annual maintenance budgets have increased steadily for many years, reflecting golfers' desires for high quality course conditioning. The 1998, 18- hole average maintenance budget for private courses is $635,930, it is $576,423 for resort courses, and it is $383,819 for municipal courses. Looking at it another way, assuming 30,000 rounds of golf per year on the private course, more than $20 in maintenance is expended for every round. Given these costs, it is no surprise that the phrase, affordable golf, is on the hopeful lips of everyone in the golf industry these days."

And that's if you could even find the property and get the OK from the City to build a new golf course off-campus.

So… our best bet would probably be to find a nicer course than what we have and work out a financial arrangement that is going to be higher than what we're paying right now.