Nebraska (7-0) remained at No. 2 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll after a five-set win over No. 17 Creighton in Omaha and a sweep over Long Beach State in Lincoln.
Texas’s stranglehold on the No. 1 spot grew stronger as the Longhorns (6-) received 59 of 64 first-place votes. Nebraska received the other five votes.
The rest of the top 10 saw a shakeup as Minnesota (4-2) fell from No. 3 to No. 6 after a four-set loss to Stanford. Louisville (7-1) took the Gophers’ spot at No. 3 while Wisconsin (5-1) jumped two spots to No. 4 and Ohio State (3-3) leaped three spots to No. 5.
The Buckeyes dropped their first three matches of the season before winning three in a row, and all six matches have been against top-15 teams. They swept BYU and took down Georgia Tech in four last week.
Purdue (7-1) climbed one spot to No. 10 while Penn State (8-0) vaulted itself up nine spots to No. 11 after beating two top-20 teams in Stanford and Oregon in a pair of five-set thrillers in Minneapolis. Illinois (4-3) held at No. 25. Northwestern appeared in the others receiving votes section at No. 36 with nine points, one spot and two points ahead of Michigan.
In total, the Big Ten has four teams in the top six and six in the top 11.
Nebraska’s next opponent, Stanford (4-2), cracked the top 10 at No. 9 after a losing a five-setter to Penn State and beating Minnesota in four. Kentucky (5-2), who the Huskers will visit on Sunday to close out the nonconference schedule, moved up one spot to No. 13.
Creighton (7-2) remained at No. 17 after losing in five to Nebraska midweek then beating both Florida State and Omaha in five over the weekend. Pepperdine (7-2) climbed two spots to No. 22 as well.
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.
