Bottom five ranked DI women’s volleyball teams compete for position: AVCA
Pitt’s Marina Pezelj, Nebraska’s Andi Jackson, and Stanford’s Spencer Etzler continue to execute top performances in recent matches.
The basement teams in the Division I women’s volleyball teams poll are fighting for position as their season gets closer to tournament time.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association released its Division one week 11 polls earlier this week. The top 19 teams are consistent to the prior week.
Coming in at No. 1 is unsurprisingly — Nebraska. The Cornhuskers have an undefeated record of 24-0.
Nebraska is gearing for a sprint to the finish. Their final six matches of the season are all BigTen matchups to determine the conference champion. Division I women’s college volleyball determines its conference champion in the regular season.
Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson, recently named the Big Ten’s co-Player of the Week, is unstoppable at the net. In her last match against Minnesota, she earned 15 kills.
The Cornhuskers’ next match is against UCLA on November 14.
Kentucky is lurking behind Nebraska at No. 2 having only dropped two matches this season. They are 20-2 and are on a 17-match winning streak.
Freshman setter Kassie O’Brien, along with her teammate Eva Hudson, was recently honored by the Southeastern Conference named SEC Player of the Week.
The Wildcats will compete against Oklahoma on November 14.
Pitt is at No. 3. The Panthers have lost 3 matches all season. They are also on an eight-game winning streak.
Freshman outside hitter Marina Pezelj showed off her defensive skills earning herself six digs on the stats sheet during the Panthers’ last match against Virginia. She had a season high of 17 digs in one match against Notre Dame this season.
The Panthers play Stanford on November 14.
The Texas Longhorns are No. 4 and have a record of 19-2.
Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford, during the squad’s last match against Florida, collected 21 kills. Stafford has the top spot on the team in kills (337) this season.
Texas is playing against Auburn on November 12.
Finally, at No. 5 is Stanford with a record of 22-3 and a 10-match winning streak.
Freshman libero and defensive specialist Spencer Etzler topped the leaderboard in the team’s last match against Duke. She had 12 digs. She is also the top player on the team with 340 digs overall.
Here are the results of the week 11 Division I poll.
Bolded teams have moved positions higher or lower from week-to-week.
25. Iowa State 18-5, 24
24. Penn State 14-10, 25
23. BYU 18-7, 21
22. Colorado 20-5, 20
21. Baylor 14-8, 23
20. Minnesota 17-8, 22
19. Tennessee 17-6, 19
18. Indiana 19-5, 18
17. Southern California 19-5, 17
16. TCU 18-7, 16
15. North Carolina 18-5, 15
14. Miami (FL) 21-4 14
13. Kansas 19-8, 13
12. Creighton 21-5, 12
11. Wisconsin 18-4, 11
10. SMU 19-5, 10
9. Purdue 21-3, 9
8. Arizona State 20-3, 8
7. Louisville 20-4, 7
6. Texas A&M 20-3, 6
5. Stanford 22-3, 5
4. Texas 19-2, 4
3. Pittsburgh 21-3, 3
2. Kentucky 20-2, 2
1. Nebraska 24-0, 1
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Lily Dorf is a student-intern at Penn State University.