Fairfax, Va. - As a result of its success in recent weeks, George Mason University's men's volleyball team returned to the American Volleyball Coaches of America poll after a 15-week absence as No. 11, the highest rank in program history since February 2009.

The 2016 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association champion featured in the preseason edition of the poll as tied for the No. 14 spot with Ball State, but a slow start to the season dropped the Patriots out of the 15-team poll. However, their phenomenal ongoing run of nine consecutive wins under first-year head coach Jay Hosack, the 2016 EIVA Coach of the Year, brought the team back into the poll as well as back into the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship for the first time since 1988. In addition, for the first time since March 1989, Mason is the highest ranked EIVA team in the poll, ranking higher than archrival No. 12 Penn State and No. 15 Saint Francis, who the Patriots defeated for the conference title on Saturday.

Mason's opponent in the play-in match on May 3, third-seeded Ohio State, is No. 2 in the poll with two of the 20 first-place votes. The other three teams with a top-four seed in the six-team national tournament also find a place in the top four of the poll – BYU heads both fields and received the remaining 18 first-place votes in the poll, second-seeded UCLA ranks No. 3 in the poll, while Long Beach State – an at-large bid holder like the Bruins – is the fourth seed in the tournament and No. 4 in the poll.

The 2016 Conference Carolinas champion and representative in State College, Pa. next week, fifth-seeded Erskine, received votes in the poll but did not make the field of 15.

AVCA Division I-II Men's Week #15-16 Poll:

Source: American Volleyball Coaches Association

*- National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship participant (not listed: Erskine)