The first week of the women's volleyball season is in the books, and it delivered plenty of intrigue, featuring several ranked matchups and notable upsets.
But what it didn't bring was a change in ownership of the No. 1 team in the country.
Nebraska remains the top-ranked team in the AVCA Coaches Poll after taking down UNLV and now-No. 9 Texas in the Players Era Volleyball Showcase in Las Vegas. The Cornhuskers also won their two top-25-ranked exhibition matches against Florida and SMU in the Spikes Under the Lights event at AT&T Stadium last week.
Pittsburgh was rewarded with a four-spot jump up to No. 2 in the rankings after a sizzling 4-0 start that included
three top-20 victories over Kentucky, Kansas and Wisconsin, the last of which resulted in a clean three-set sweep.
The Panthers' dynamic duo of Olivia Babcock and Penn State transfer Izzy Starck has quickly emerged as one of the nation's most dangerous combinations and could be the key to getting Pitt over the hump in its pursuit of a national championship. Starck has totaled 143 assists and 44 digs through four matches, while Babcock has recorded at least 10 kills in every match this season.
Despite its 1-3 record, Wisconsin moved up a spot in the poll to No. 5. Kentucky and Stanford round out the top five at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
Arizona State, SMU and Creighton all moved into the top 10 after big first weeks of the season. The Bluejays opened their season with a five-set win over then-No. 9 Purdue in the State Farm Women's Volleyball Showcase, while the Sun Devils picked up back-to-back top-15 ranked wins over then-No. 2 Texas and then-No. 14 Minnesota before taking a top-25 loss to Southern California.
With that, here's a look at the updated AVCA Poll:
College volleyball rankings after Week 1
First place votes in parentheses
AVCA
- Nebraska (57)
- Pitt (6)
- Kentucky
- Stanford
- Wisconsin
- Louisville
- Arizona State
- SMU
- Texas
- Creighton
- Minnesota
- Texas A&M
- Penn State
- Purdue
- Southern California
- Kansas
- Florida
- TCU
- North Carolina
- Baylor
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- Colorado
- BYU
- Oregon
Others receiving votes: Georgia Tech 126; UCLA 44; Utah 33; Cal Poly 32; Miami (FL) 26; Dayton 25; Michigan 16; Iowa State 11; San Diego 9; Rice 8; Western Kentucky 6
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College volleyball rankings after Week 1: Updated AVCA top 25
