Nebraska received some help from other Big Ten teams last week and moved up in both the conference standings and the national poll as a result.
After a 2-0 week featuring wins over Iowa and No. 19 Purdue, Nebraska has climbed one spot to No. 5 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.
Madi Kubik also took him Big Ten Player of the Week, the first such award for a Husker since Kubik won it in October of 2021. The senior averaged 5.17 kills and 3.33 digs per set on .357 hitting. She posted 14 kills on .407 hitting and nine digs against Iowa then followed that up with a season-high 17 kills on .311 hitting and 11 digs against Purdue. Kubik has now captured four Big Ten Player of the Week honors in her career.
The top four of the poll remained the same with No. 1 Texas (21-1, 57 first-place votes), No. 2 San Diego (26-1, two first-place votes), No. 3 Wisconsin (23-3, three first-place votes) and No. 4 Louisville (25-2, two first-place votes) but Ohio State (19-8) dropped from No. 5 to No. 8 after dropping matches to Maryland in four sets and Indiana in five last week.
The losses dropped Ohio State into third place in the Big Ten standings at 15-3, one game behind Nebraska at 16-2. Wisconsin remains atop the standings heading into the final week of the regular season, where the Badgers will play both the Cornhuskers and the Buckeyes.
Minnesota (18-8, 13-5) held at No. 9. Penn State (22-7, 11-6) moved up three spots to No. 11 after beating the Golden Gophers in four sets and losing to the Badgers in five. Purdue (19-9, 10-8) remained at No. 19 despite the loss to Nebraska.
Among nonconference opponents, Stanford (22-4) moved up two spots to No. 6, leapfrogging Pittsburgh (who lost to Louisville) and Ohio State. Creighton (25-4) fell four spots to No. 15 after a three-set loss at Marquette. Kentucky (18-7) move up two spots to No. 16. Loyola Marymount (eight points, 29th) and Pepperdine (five points, 30th) were among others receiving votes.
The updated top 10 in the official NCAA RPI features No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 San Diego and No. 10 Oregon.
Nebraska will close out the season with a pair of top-10 games as the Huskers host Wisconsin on Friday and Minnesota on Saturday.
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
