Nebraska volleyball lands No. 2, receives first-place vote in latest AVCA Top 25

Nebraska volleyball is back where it started — at least as far as the preseason standings are concerned.

The Huskers returned to their highest rating of the season as NU received a first-place vote to earn No. 2 in the latest AVCA Top 25. Pittsburgh received the rest of its 60 first-place votes to take the top spot after his 9-0 start.

Nebraska (10-1) earned its berth after back-to-back sweeps of top-five teams last week, defeating No. 2 Stanford 3-0 on Wednesday night while beating No. 4 Louisville on Sunday. Stanford (8-1) dropped to No. 3, while Louisville (8-2) is fifth.

Nebraska has now faced seven opponents ranked in the top 25 of the latest polls, suffering just one loss to ACC-foe SMU. The Mustangs (8-3) remained in the top 25 but dropped one spot to No. 23. Nebraska in-state rival Creighton (9-2) earned its highest ranking in school history, moving up three spots to in 6th place. NOT knocked down. The Jays in a five-set thriller in early September.

The Huskers’ season-opening opponent Kentucky (6-5) dropped to No. 12. Arizona State (11-1) remained at No. 14 and TCU (8-2) moved up one spot to No. 22. Nebraska won in four sets against Kentucky and TCU while sweeping the Sun Devils at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Big Ten proved its conference strength in the latest poll as well, featuring seven teams in the Top 25 and five teams in the Top 10. Nebraska led the pack, while Penn State (No. 4, 10-1), Wisconsin ( No. 7, 6-3) and Purdue (No. 10, 9-2) rounded out the Top Ten. Oregon (8-1) moved up one spot to No. 11, and Minnesota (7-3) was No. 16.

Former Nebraska standout Ally Batenhorst’s USC Trojans tied for No. 20 with Tennessee. Washington received votes to be the first outside team to look in the top 25.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is tied for the most 25 teams, including No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Stanford, no. 5 Louisville, no. 13 Georgia Tech, no. 18 Florida State, no. 23 SMU and no. 25 Miami (FL). The Big 12 Conference has five featured programs: No. 9 Kansas, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 17 BYU, No. 19 Baylor and No. 23 SMU. The SEC includes four teams, including former preseason no. 1: no. 8 Texas, no. 12 Kentucky, no. 15 Florida and no. 20 Tennessee.

As of Monday’s rankings, Nebraska will have seven contests remaining on the schedule against top-25 opponents. After Friday night’s Big Ten opener against UCLA, the Huskers welcome No. 20 USC to Lincoln for a Sunday night battle.

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