Women’s College Volleyball Rankings, Oct 11

Well, so much for solidified standings. This week is all about shifts, some of them seriously dramatic.

New Number One Women’s Volleyball Team

This week’s AVCA coaches’ poll comes complete with a brand new No. 1 team, specifically the Florida Gators. This is the first time the Gators have been in the top spot since December, 1996, and they earned it with a grueling early season schedule.

Florida has played 9 top-25 teams in the first 15 matches, and they boast a 14-1 overall record and a 7-0 record in their Southeastern conference. Most recently Florida posted wins against Alabama and Mississippi State, and they’ll face conference opponents Auburn and Mississippi State in the coming days.

Undefeated Seasons Come to an End

Stanford’s first loss of the season to then-No. 12 UCLA dropped the Cardinal down to the No. 2 spot and gave UCLA a 2-spot jump to No. 10; with a stunning 17-15 win in the 5th set USC gave California their first loss of the season, propelling the Trojans from No. 8 to No. 5. California nonetheless still outranks USC, thanks to their win over then-No. 12 UCLA.

No. 8 Illinois had been making quite a run, but their 4-game winning streak was cut short by a loss to then-No. 18 Michigan, who earned three spots with the win.

Penn State’s loss to unranked Indiana on Saturday, along with a loss to unranked Purdue, gave them the largest drop of the week from No. 4 to No. 9. This was Indiana’s first ever win over Penn State in the 41 times the teams have met.

Other Significant Ranking Changes

• Iowa St -3 (No. 10 to No. 13); loss versus unranked Kansas, win versus Texas Tech

• LSU +3 (No. 15 to No. 12); wins versus Kentucky and then-No. 22 Tennessee
• Michigan +3 (No. 18 to No. 15); win versus then-No. 6 Illinois and Wisconsin
• Northwestern +4 (No. 24 to No. 20); wins versus then-No. 16 Minnesota and Iowa)

The season is in full swing, and it’s pretty clear that it’s a wide open field at this point. Check back with us next Monday for another recap of NCAA women’s volleyball.

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