After finishing the season ranked No. 3 last year, the Lady Blues earned the No. 2 national ranking in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA national preseason poll released Tuesday. Washburn trailed defending champion Concordia-St. Paul in the voting and was ahead of four other MIAA teams in the top 25.

The Lady Blues received 830 points while Concordia had 897 points and 35 of 36 first place votes. Truman was in third with 780 points. Emporia State was ranked 11th, Central Missouri was 13th and Pittsburg State was 17th to give the MIAA five top-20 teams. Additional 2008 opponents Nebraska-Omaha, Dowling and Central Oklahoma received votes but were not ranked.

The No. 2 ranking is the highest in school history after WU climbed as high as third last year. This is the 13th straight week WU has been in the top 10 and the 55th straight time being in the top 25, dating back to week one of the 2004 season.

The Lady Blues went 38-4 and finished first in the MIAA West Division last year with a 12-1 conference mark but fell in the tournament semifinal. They then went on to win the NCAA South Central Region tournament and host the final three rounds of the national tournament. Washburn advanced past the quarterfinal with a win over top-ranked Tampa and then fell in the semifinal to Western Washington.

The Lady Blues start the season at the Colorado State-Pueblo Fall Classic August 29-30 with four matches and they play their first home match September 17 against Northwest Missouri at Lee Arena. Their first scheduled match against a ranked opponent is September 19 at No. 3 Truman.