The highest 4 groups within the VolleyballMag Tremendous 16 Media Ballot — Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Penn State and Louisville — stayed the identical this week.
There was some minor shuffling with one newcomer, TCU, which broke by way of at No. 16.
Rank, Workforce, Factors, First-Place Votes, Earlier rating
1. Pittsburgh (188 factors, 8 first-place votes, 1)
2. Nebraska (184, 4 first-place votes, 2)
3. Penn State (165, 3)
4. Louisville (157, 4)
5. Creighton (140, 6)
6. Stanford (133, 5)
7. Texas (116, 7)
8. Wisconsin (97, 10)
9. Kansas (91, 8)
10. Purdue (83, 11 )
11. SMU (80, 9)
12. Oregon (64, 12)
13. Arizona State (43, 13)
14. USC (29, 15)
15. Minnesota (19, 14)
16. TCU (15, NR)
Additionally receiving votes: Kentucky, Dayton, Utah, BYU
Dropped out: Kentucky
The voters
Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) — Nebraska beat author for Huskers Illustrated and co-host of the Volleyball State podcast
Abby Benton (@numberonevolleyball) — performed at DII Catawba and DIII William Peace and has 54K Instagram followers and greater than 116K on TikTok
Michella Chester (@michellachester) — THE volleyball voice of NCAA.com
Shelby Coppedge (@shelbycoppedge) — ESPN analyst, former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi DS
Emily Ehman @emilyehman) — Huge Ten Community, ESPN, Volleyball World TV analyst; former Northwestern DS
Lee Feinswog (@VBMagazine) — editor of VolleyballMag
Daniel Gillman (@DanielGillman/@SixRotations) — host of Six Rotations for the AVCA, nationwide play-by-play for a number of sports activities
Sam Gore (@sambgore) — veteran broadcaster/studio host who does ESPN volleyball play-by-play, host of the Fifth Set in the course of the NCAA Event
Mick Haley (@Michaelhaley6) — ESPN analyst, former national-championship coach at Texas and USC and 2000 USA Olympic coach
Amy Pauly (@acpauly10) — Head coach of the Orlando Valkyries of the Professional Volleyball Federation and the workforce’s vice-president of volleyball operations; former assistant coach at USC, head coach at UAB; libero at Alabama
Dennis Punzel (@DennisPunzel) — Wisconsin beat author for the Wisconsin State Journal, creator of Level! Wisconsin
Ed Robust (@VBMagazine) — VolleyballMag tremendous Tweeter
Voter feedback
Gillman: Pitt’s sturdy sweep of Stanford propelled them again to No. 1 for me, as they have been dominant towards a Cardinal workforce that simply took down SMU midweek. It was a enjoyable week with Kansas and Penn State avoiding main upsets, whereas Georgia Tech and Florida State averted them with five-set winners! And the Holy Struggle didn’t disappoint both with BYU coming into my high 16
Haley: The race continues to be broad open. Pitt lately confirmed some cracks, and Nebraska and Louisville confirmed some earlier. Penn State had a fairly good scare, too. Lots of the groups within the high 30 that may peak on the proper time could make a deep run. There might be upsets on the way in which to the nationwide championship.
Punzel: I flip-flopped once more on the high, transferring Pitt again to 1 and Nebraska to 2. Strictly the attention check. However I may flip-flop once more subsequent week. Largely minor shuffling of order with Dayton and TCU transferring as much as the final two spots.
Arneal: Only some tweaks this week, as a lot of the high groups proceed to handle enterprise and upsets have been few and much between. Creighton moved forward of Stanford after Pitt swept the Cardinal. I saved the Panthers at No. 2 this week, however nearly moved them forward of Nebraska. Oregon additionally slipped a spot after shedding to Wisconsin. Kentucky stays in my rankings after Utah couldn’t end off the Holy Struggle towards BYU. Minnesota re-enters the rankings after I used to be too harsh on them and didn’t give the Gophers sufficient credit score for wins over Texas and Wisconsin.
Ehman: This week was an absolute headache. Nebraska nonetheless No. 1 as a result of extra massive wins. I want I may make an argument for Creighton increased than sixth, however Stanford’s sweep of SMU shut the door on that for me. Numbers 13-16 was a coin flip between Minnesota, ASU, TCU USC and Utah. I ended up stepping into that order and leaving Utah out as a result of USC’s losses have been higher. And eyeball check. Sorry.
Robust: I used to be tempted to flip Pitt again above Nebraska with their convincing sweep of Stanford, however determined to depart it as is, given the Huskers additionally being dominant this week. Stanford is a bizarre case: Final week, I had them at No. 6, however far nearer to No. 5 Creighton than to Kansas/Texas. This week, I made a decision to maintain them above Kansas/Texas, in order that they’re nonetheless at No. 6, however mentally, the hole is now between Creighton and Stanford. Arizona State continues to maneuver up my poll (and I consider the committee’s high 16 introduced yesterday completely ought to have had them in). I really feel pretty strongly concerning the high 13 in some order, however the final three felt loads more durable – I ended up going TCU-Dayton-USC, however I don’t have a robust opinion there. Thought of: Minnesota, Utah, Georgia Tech, Kentucky
Benton: Regardless of the committee’s emphasis on energy of schedule and high quality wins, I believe head-to-head wins and a easy eye check ought to be above each. That’s why I’ve moved Wisconsin up after their win towards Oregon and have Arizona State on my listing as a substitute of groups that they’ve simply overwhelmed. I nonetheless have Pitt at my No. 1 after their spectacular win towards Stanford.
Coppedge: It’s really superb to see the game of volleyball evolve 12 months by 12 months. The previous few years, coaches harped on how they wish to get opponents out of system with the primary contact from the serve-and-pass recreation. Now, extra so than ever, serving isn’t simply making an attempt to get groups out of system, it’s an entire different part of offense. Groups are going behind the road to attain by way of serve and are OK taking intensive errors doing so. The very fact Stanford had 22 missed serves once more SMU and nonetheless SWEPT the Mustangs in Dallas is jarring. Each different a part of that match for the Cardinals was going proper, so the aggressive errors balanced out with setter Kami Miner’s sturdy offense. This 12 months I’ve heard extra coaches say, “If we aren’t getting service errors, we aren’t serving onerous sufficient.” It simply goes to point out, in case you are going above and past in each different a part of your coach’s recreation plan, you’ve gotten a robust probability to win a match, even should you’re having an off night time of serving. For a present faculty volleyball participant, it’s positively a pleasant world to dwell in!
Feinswog: OK, so I didn’t vote for South Dakota State, at 18-0 the final unbeaten. However I did have Dayton at No. 16. Go Lexie Almodovar!