A little bit of movement this week.
Stanford, as I thought, is the new #1 team in Division I. They got 50 of the 60 first-place votes. I’m a bit surprised, though, that Oregon is #2. Penn State falls to #3 after their loss to Nebraska, thought they did still get a single first-place vote. And as for the Huskers, a loss to Ohio State and a win over Penn State proved to be a push, as they remain #4 in the land. Washington tumbles to #8 with losses in four of their last five matches. This is the lowest any of the ‘elite’ Pac-12 teams have been in quite some time. For their part, Ohio State was rewarded handsomely by knocking off Nebraska, climbing five slots to #15 this week,
The complete poll is available here.
The D-II poll shows more stability. The top ten are the same as they were last week in composition and, except for Central Missouri and Tampa trading places at number 6 and 7, in position as well. Someone still has BYU-Hawaii at the top of their poll, which is a bit silly. It was a rough week for the GNAC. After my Western Washington Vikings played their best volleyball of the season last week in two dominant home wins, that’s how poorly they did on the road this week. They lost a straight-sets laugher to the same Western Oregon team they swept on their home court, and then needed four sets to dispatch perennial bottom-feeders Saint Martin’s, a team I believe has never once beaten them. They drop five notches, to #17. It seems harsh to me, but hey. They can’t really complain.
Archrivals Central Washington also had a dismal week, losing a pair of five-setters at home. This drops them from #22 out of the rankings altogether. The new team in the top 25 is #25 Ferris State. Another big loser was the Minnesota State Mavericks. Ordinarily, two losses in the absolutely stacked Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wouldn’t be cause to be battered in the polls, but when they include a straight-sets loss to unranked Augustana, as well as a straight-sets loss to #16 Wayne State, you’re going down a few. Minnesota State slips from #14 down to #20.
You can view the complete D-II poll here.
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