The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team is ranked No. 7 nationally in the preseason Volleyball Magazine poll, released yesterday. Two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State is No. 1.

The 'Bows were No. 6 in last year's final Volleyball Magazine poll, after reaching an NCAA regional final. UH finished the season 31-4.

The primary women's volleyball poll — the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 — will release its preseason poll Aug. 18. It comes out weekly starting Aug. 31.

Hawai'i returns four starters. Earlier this week it was picked by Western Athletic Conference coaches as the preseason favorite to win its 12th consecutive WAC championship.

This season's home schedule includes NCAA runner-up Stanford (No. 5 in yesterday's poll), NCAA semifinalist Texas (2), regional participants California (6), UCLA (10) and Western Michigan, and NCAA Tournament teams Santa Clara (20) and St. Louis (17).