That is the primary VolleyballMag Tremendous 16 Media Ballot of the season and unbeaten Pittsburgh is a unanimous No. 1.
The Panthers obtained all 11 of the first-place votes. Nebraska was a strong No. 2.
Because the voters famous of their feedback, after that issues might have gone a variety of methods.
Rank, Workforce, Factors, First-Place Votes
1. Pittsburgh (192 factors, 12 first-place vote)
2. Nebraska (175)
3. Stanford (166)
4. Louisville (144)
5. Penn State (136)
6. Creighton (135)
7. Wisconsin (112)
8. Texas (109)
9. Kansas (95)
10. Purdue (81)
11. Oregon (60)
12. Georgia Tech (56)
13. Kentucky (53)
14. Arizona State (38)
15. Florida (26)
16. Minnesota (20)
Additionally receiving votes: TCU, Florida State, USC, Baylor, Washington, Georgia, SMU, North Carolina
The voters
Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) — Nebraska beat author for Huskers Illustrated and co-host of 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) — Large 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 staff’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, writer of Level! Wisconsin
Ed Sturdy (@VBMagazine) — VolleyballMag tremendous Tweeter
Voter feedback
Arneal: Primarily based on courtroom play, Pitt and Nebraska have been essentially the most spectacular groups over the past week. The Panthers haven’t misplaced but, so that they get the nod over Nebraska. Penn State and Stanford are a half step again and can make this a enjoyable convention season.
Creighton regarded like they had been on the sting of a break via in five-set losses to Nebraska and Louisville, and the Bluejays lastly broke via with wins over Kansas and Purdue. Texas and Wisconsin have performed brutal schedules, however I anticipate them to get the lineups sorted out. Kentucky has gone via the gauntlet with 5 top-10 losses (in line with me), however I anticipate they are going to flip it on within the SEC once more this yr. Arizona State and TCU might use a couple of marquee wins, however their performances have been excellent up to now.
Punzel: No. 1 is straightforward with Pitt taking part in flawlessly. Solely slight reservation is that its schedule hasn’t been as difficult as different elite applications. Nebraska has a pair massive wins however one puzzling loss, however will get edge over Stanford from face to face wipeout. After that it will get murky, with schedule disparities. I might argue with myself concerning the order from 4 to 16. I think issues will get murkier as we go.
Gore: My dominant staff of the week is Pitt, which has not dropped a set all season.
Creighton was extremely spectacular this previous week, starting with an nearly reverse-sweep, five-set loss at Louisville, then responding with again to again wins over then-AVCA No. 6 Purdue and No. 10 Kansas. All of this was on the street.
The staff to maintain your eye on from this level ahead is Florida. Alexis Stucky returned from a 368-day absence, performed flawlessly this previous weekend and lifted up everybody round her. The Gators now have three full energy All-Individuals within the beginning lineup
Gillman: Pitt and Nebraska are stepping up week after week and have emerged because the clear high tier. Creighton proved a ton in Kansas this previous weekend, and the celebrities are beginning to come again in Gainesville. In the meantime I felt Washington was deserving of a rating, and maintaining a tally of unbeaten Syracuse
Pauly: After 4 weeks of play I believe we we’ve a transparent group of high three groups. Their serve and go is elite, and they’re essentially the most organized and constant groups to observe.
The group of 4 via 10 might actually go both manner. They alI have high 25 wins and/or misplaced to somebody on this group. I used to be near placing Creighton within the high 5 due to their play this weekend, however couldn’t justify that with a loss to Louisville. The subsequent group of 11-16 doesn’t have any unhealthy losses. One might argue Florida has a nasty loss to USF, however I don’t know if that may technically be decided till later within the season. Plus, Florida regarded like a refreshed staff with all their starters again Sunday. Arizona State and Kentucky are the one groups with out top-25 wins however have good wins over San Diego and SMU.
Normally, I docked groups who had current losses in comparison with those that misplaced the primary two weekends.
Benton: As I began creating this rating, I used to be like “this will likely be straightforward. Pitt at #1 and …” I had no clue what to do after that. With so many upsets, it has been laborious to really rank these groups and balancing the premise of wins and losses and simply how the staff appears to be like talent-wise. However what I’ve targeted essentially the most on when figuring out whether or not one staff ought to be above one other is how they’ve executed in opposition to groups they’re alleged to beat. It’s clearly essential to win in opposition to a ranked staff, however it’s additionally essential to win (even sweep) the unranked groups. This barely affected how I positioned Nebraska, Texas, and Georgia Tech in my rating. Creighton alternatively, I’ve ranked No. 6 as a result of whereas they’ve two losses, they’re to Nebraska and Louisville and each in 5 units. Apart from that, they’ve seemingly taken care of everybody else, together with beating Purdue in 4 and sweeping Kansas. Oregon is a tricky one for me as a result of their solely loss is to Pitt. Minnesota is in the same boat to Creighton in that each one three of their losses are in 5 units. Their match in opposition to Wisconsin will likely be very indicative to the place they are going to be ranked subsequent week. And likewise Kentucky’s Sunday match at Florida will likely be large for subsequent week’s rating.
Emily: Pitt begins at No. 1 after sweeping Penn State and nonetheless not having dropped a single set via convention play — not a whole lot of holes in that staff! Regardless of the loss to SMU a couple of weeks in the past, Nebraska is my No. 2 after sweeping two top-5 opponents this week — they’re legit! Creighton moved into my No. 6 spot after a formidable two top-10 win week.
Chester: Pitt is my No. 1 total staff, absolute domination this season and have but to drop a set. The Huskers have the largest wins although with two assertion wins over Stanford and Louisville this previous week. Creighton and Kansas had actually spectacular outings this week and the Jayhawks made a giant soar after taking down each then-No. 6 Purdue. I’ve them above Wisconsin and Texas due to that top-10 win, and Texas above Wisconsin due to the head-to-head victory.
Sturdy: The highest 4 feels fairly steady as Pitt-Nebraska-Stanford-Penn State. Creighton jumps all the best way to No. 6 after a extremely spectacular week. Thought-about a bunch of groups for last spot however went with TCU, who has a top-20 win, losses solely to groups within the high 10, and appears to have hit their stride.
Feinswog: I used to be in Pittsburgh when Pitt beat Penn State final week. And I’ve additionally been lucky to have seen in individual Stanford, Louisville, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin and Kentucky. It’s going to take a really, superb staff hitting on all cylinders to beat Pitt.
