The Nebraska Cornhuskers have regained their throne as the undisputed #1 team in the land – a title they held for the first 5 weeks of the season – in the latest October 31st AVCA polls.
The Cornhuskers, one of only two 1-loss teams left in Division 1 (#24 Dayton being the other), has proven their mettle after a small hiccup on the first of this month against Ohio State. In the time since, the Huskers have rattled off 8 straight wins, including 24 of 27 sets they’ve played, against 5 teams ranked in the top 25. That included avenging their loss against Ohio State – this time on the road.
While Nebraska continued at #1, the top 5 saw a big shakeup after the Kansas Jayhawks won their first game against conference rivals Texas since 2003 on Saturday – bumping Kansas up 2 spots and Texas down 3. That means the Big Ten is once again 1-2-3 in the national polls.
The North Carolina Tar Heels, meanwhile, fell out of the top 10 after a 3-2 loss on the road against unranked Pitt on Sunday. That was UNC’s first loss of the 2016 ACC season.
Two new teams joined the top 25 this week – Dayton, who by win percentage has the best record in the country; enters the polls at 24th, while Creighton enters tied for 25th with USC. The Creighton women were ranked in the AVCA’s pre-season polls, but quickly fell out of favor after 6 losses in their non-conference schedule. They’ve run through Big East play at 12-0 so far, though, dropping only 3 sets in those 12 matches.
Only Illinois, after losses to #1 Michigan and unranked Iowa, fell out of this week’s top 25 (which is technically-speaking a top 26 because of the tie). The Missouri women were on the verge of breaking into the top 25, but dropped their first game of the season last Wednesday – a 3-1 road defeat to the formerly-ranked Texas A&M Aggies on the road.
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska (64) | 1600 | 20-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 1522 | 17-4 | 3 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 1461 | 18-3 | 4 |
| 4 | Kansas | 1400 | 20-2 | 6 |
| 5 | Texas | 1331 | 17-3 | 2 |
| 6 | Florida | 1264 | 21-2 | 9 |
| 7 | San Diego | 1158 | 19-3 | 5 |
| 8 | Washington | 1060 | 19-3 | 7 |
| 9 | UCLA | 1030 | 18-4 | 12 |
| 10 | Florida State | 989 | 18-3 | 11 |
| 11 | Penn State | 900 | 17-6 | 10 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 871 | 19-3 | 8 |
| 13 | Stanford | 841 | 14-6 | 17 |
| 14 | BYU | 829 | 20-3 | 16 |
| 15 | Hawai’i | 778 | 16-5 | 14 |
| 16 | Michigan State | 736 | 19-5 | 15 |
| 17 | Michigan | 456 | 18-6 | 13 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 418 | 18-5 | 22 |
| 19 | Utah | 390 | 16-7 | 21 |
| 20 | Oregon | 353 | 15-6 | 20 |
| 21 | Western Kentucky | 295 | 24-2 | 23 |
| 22 | Ohio State | 284 | 15-9 | 19 |
| 23 | Washington State | 254 | 17-7 | 18 |
| 24 | Dayton | 134 | 24-1 | NR |
| T-25 | Creighton | 120 | 18-6 | NR |
| T-25 | Southern California | 120 | 15-8 | 24 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Missouri 68; Purdue 50; Illinois 37; Arizona 14; Colorado 13; Iowa 9; Texas A&M 4
Seven teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 14 combined points.
Dropped Out: Illinois 24
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