With Halloween approaching this week, the push for the postseason in women’s volleyball is well and truly on.
Opportunities are beginning to come at a premium.
Nebraska remains the top-ranked team in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll after moving to 21-0 on the season following back-to-back sweeps of the Big Ten’s Los Angeles programs, Southern California and UCLA. Outside hitter Andi Jackson ranks third in the nation with a .479 hitting percentage, while setter Bergen Reilly is fourth in the nation with 11.24 assists per set.
Olivia Babcock and No. 2 Pitt won both of their road matches on the week at Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Panthers hit a .700 scoring percentage
in the third without an attack error against Clemson on Sunday, ending the day with a .475 attack percentage: their second-highest of the year.
Outside of the top five, Tennessee had a big week by boosting its NCAA Tournament resume with a pair of ranked wins. The Vols began the week with a five-set reverse-sweep win over then-No. 4 Kentucky — which featured three players recording double-doubles, with Kennedi Rogers posting 13 kills and a career-high 13 digs — and a sweep over then-No. 22 Vanderbilt.
Wisconsin saw its brief two-game win streak come to an end with a five-set loss to then-No. 21 Washington, the Badgers' first loss to an opponent outside of the top 10 this season. In that loss, the Badgers finished with eight reception errors, their most in a single game this season. Kelly Sheffield’s squad got back on track on Sunday with a clean sweep over Michigan.
With that, here's a look at the updated AVCA poll:
College volleyball rankings for Oct. 26
First-place votes in parentheses
- Nebraska (63)
- Pitt
- Louisville
- Florida
- SMU
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Wisconsin
- BYU
- Arizona State
- Purdue
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Texas
- Kansas
- TCU
- Texas A&M
- Stanford
- Indiana
- Washington
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Vanderbilt
- Baylor
- Michigan State
Others receiving votes: Colorado 88; Illinois 46; UCLA 18; Colorado State 12; Georgia Tech 4; Utah 4; Western Kentucky 4; Miami 3
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College volleyball rankings after Week 9: Updated AVCA Coaches Poll
