Michigan, Northern Iowa Make 2018 AVCA Poll Debuts

  0 Wendy Mayer | August 27th, 2018 | ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, College - Women's Indoor, Conference USA, Division I Mid-Major, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West, News, Pac 12, SEC, WCC

Stanford is still holding down the No. 1 spot in the Week 1 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 poll, but there were big shakeups in other areas and two teams that made their 2018 debut in the rankings.

The Cardinal opened their season with a sweep of American in front of a record crowd on Sunday and are slated to face Howard tonight (Monday).

The big jumpers for the week were Pittsburgh, Baylor and Washington.

The Panthers moved up six spots from No. 20 to No. 14 after a 3-0 week that included a four-set win over ranked foe Cal Poly. Baylor climbed four spots from 16 to 12, going 3-0 at home, while Washington was right behind, going from No. 17 to No. 13 with two wins over San Diego (Match 1 / Match 2).

Two teams made their 2018 AVCA poll debuts in Northern Iowa and Michigan and both went from the ranks of the vote getters to No. 17 and No. 23 respectively. UNI went 2-1, topping Kentucky and Creighton at the USC Trojan Invitational. Michigan, meanwhile, swept High Point and Auburn to start the season.

Kentucky experienced the biggest drop, falling from No. 5 to No. 16 after falling to Creighton and Northern Iowa in five sets and USC in four at the Trojan Invitational.

Colorado fell six places from No. 15 to No. 21 with a 2-1 showing at the Rumble in the Rockies, dropping the tournament finale to Wyoming while playing without middle blocker Naghede Abu

San Diego dropped five places from 14 to 19 with two losses to Washington. 

Florida replaced Kentucky in the top five, checking in at No. 4, after defeating then-No. 2 Nebraska and falling to newly minted No. 2 Texas at the VERT Challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The host Huskers dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 after going 1-1, falling to the Gators, but rebounding with a win over Oregon.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points Adjusted 2018 Record Previous Week
1 Stanford (57) 1591 1-0 1
2 Texas (7) 1530 2-0 3
3 Minnesota 1429 2-0 4
4 Florida 1376 1-1 7
5 Nebraska 1264 1-1 2
6 Penn State 1258 3-0 6
7 Southern California 1231 3-0 10
8 Wisconsin 1183 2-0 9
9 BYU 1141 2-0 8
10 UCLA 984 2-0 11
11 Illinois 946 3-0 12
12 Baylor 854 3-0 16
13 Washington 838 2-0 17
14 Pittsburgh 639 3-0 20
15 Creighton 633 1-2 13
16 Kentucky 609 0-3 5
17 Northern Iowa 472 2-1 NR
18 Oregon 432 0-2 18
19 San Diego 405 0-2 14
20 Purdue 341 3-0 23
21 Colorado 295 2-1 15
22 Utah 194 2-1 19
23 Michigan 180 2-0 NR
24 Cal Poly 163 2-1 24
25 Colorado State 140 1-1 25

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Marquette 131; Iowa State 129; Louisville 75; Wichita State 74; Washington State 68; Michigan State 41; Wyoming 36; Alabama 33; Oregon State 19; Ohio State 13; Arizona 10; Tennessee 5

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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