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 means of at No. 16.
Rank, Staff, 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) — 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 throughout the NCAA Match
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, writer of Level! Wisconsin
Ed Sturdy (@VBMagazine) — VolleyballMag tremendous Tweeter
Voter feedback
Gillman: Pitt’s robust 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 Conflict didn’t disappoint both with BYU getting into my high 16
Haley: The race remains to be broad open. Pitt lately confirmed some cracks, and Nebraska and Louisville confirmed some earlier. Penn State had a reasonably good scare, too. Most of the groups within the high 30 that may peak on the proper time could make a deep run. There will likely be upsets on the best way to the nationwide championship.
Punzel: I flip-flopped once more on the high, shifting Pitt again to 1 and Nebraska to 2. Strictly the attention check. However I might flip-flop once more subsequent week. Largely minor shuffling of order with Dayton and TCU shifting as much as the final two spots.
Arneal: Only some tweaks this week, as a lot of the high groups proceed to maintain enterprise and upsets have been few and much between. Creighton moved forward of Stanford after Pitt swept the Cardinal. I stored 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 Conflict 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 huge wins. I want I might make an argument for Creighton larger 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.
Sturdy: I used to be tempted to flip Pitt again above Nebraska with their convincing sweep of Stanford, however determined to go away 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 imagine the committee’s high 16 introduced yesterday completely ought to have had them in). I really feel pretty strongly in regards to the high 13 in some order, however the final three felt so much 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 power of schedule and high quality wins, I believe head-to-head wins and a easy eye check needs to be above each. That’s why I’ve moved Wisconsin up after their win towards Oregon and have Arizona State on my checklist as a substitute of groups that they’ve simply crushed. 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 need to get opponents out of system with the primary contact from the serve-and-pass sport. Now, extra so than ever, serving isn’t simply attempting to get groups out of system, it’s a complete different section of offense. Groups are going behind the road to attain through serve and are OK taking intensive errors doing so. The actual 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 robust offense. This 12 months I’ve heard extra coaches say, “If we aren’t getting service errors, we aren’t serving exhausting sufficient.” It simply goes to indicate, in case you are going above and past in each different a part of your coach’s sport plan, you’ve a robust likelihood to win a match, even in the event you’re having an off night time of serving. For a present faculty volleyball participant, it’s undoubtedly a pleasant world to stay 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!
