Friday, May 18th, 2012
This week’s shifts in the AVCA Coaches’ poll are nearly the exact opposite of last week’s results, with the top 5 spots changing drastically while the rest of the rankings remain virtually stationary. 
No. 1 ranked Florida kept the top spot, earning 44 first place votes after keeping their 18-1 overall record and undefeated 11-0 conference ranking in tact. The Gators have faced off against 10 top-25 teams this season and lost only one of those matches (to Penn State). This past week they took down No. 22 Tennessee and Kentucky, both in three sets.
Last week’s No. 2 team Stanford lost to conference rival California in four sets, pushing them all the way down to No. 4 and propelling California from No. 5 to No. 3. The win also secures California the sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 conference.
After a sweep of Texas Tech (their 13th consecutive sweep of the Raiders to be exact) and a second sweep, this time of Missouri, the Nebraska Cornhuskers snagged the vacated No. 2 spot, moving them up one place this week.
Stanford’s drop through the top five also pushed Hawaii down from No. 4 to No. 5 despite Hawaii’s sweeps of Idaho, Boise State and and Utah State.
Michigan’s steady climb suffered a set back this week, as they fell from No. 13 to No. 15 on the back of a loss to unranked Indiana and a barely scraped 3-2 win against unranked Purdue.
No. 18 Oregon and No. 24 Northwestern both fell two positions in the rankings, while No. 23 Arizona climbed two spots.
We’re entering the second half of conference play this week, which means time is running out for teams that want to make their moves in their conference rankings. The first round of tournament play will begin the first week of December, so only another 5-6 weeks of play left.
Keep your eyes on Volleyball-life.com for coverage!
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
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Tags: ncaa division 1 womens volleyball, NCAA volleyball, NCAA women's volleyball, ncaa women's volleyball ranking
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