Sunday, October 9, 2011

Pac-12 volleyball power rankings for October 10, 2011


USC has won eight in a row, dropping just one set (to ASU). Washington has won seven in a row, dropping no sets at all. In my book these are the top two teams in the nation. Trojans stay ahead of Huskies until they lose (or once again look as ugly as they did against ASU this weekend.)

Oregon coming back to Earth now that it's playing (and losing to) the conference leaders; Ducks must beat either USC or UCLA in SoCal this week to remain relevant in national picture.

(last week's rankings in parentheses)

1.
USC (1)
Undistinguished in the desert: two wins, but hardly dominant
2.
Washington (2)
Seven Pac-12 wins in a row; all 3-0 sweeps. Bay Area trip looms large
3.
Cal (5)
Quieted a record Eugene crowd; quiet start to a win in Corvallis
4.
UCLA (3)
Disaster in the desert: from 25-10 (2nd set) to 12-15 (5th set)
5.
Stanford (6)
Two wins in Beaver State (both in 4 sets) including Eugene nailbiter
6.
Oregon (4)
Missed chance to make a statement at home against Bay Area schools; LA trip comes at a bad time
7.
Arizona (9)
Showed heart against SC, showed even more against the Bruins
8.
WSU (7)
Shoulda, coulda beat Utah at home; avoided being Buffaloed the next night
9.
Oregon St (8)
Won first set in losses to both Stanford & Cal … would be a good team in any other conference
10.
Utah (11)
Utes can play big-time defense; why can’t its big hitters make big-time plays?
11.
Arizona St (10)
Stole sets from SC, Cal & Oregon; haven’t yet swiped a Pac-12 match
12.
Colorado (12)
Saturday showdown with Sun Devils: who gets winless monkey off back?

Nationally, top teams who lost include #8 Penn State (in 5-set heartbreak to #1 Illinois), #11 Purdue (to #6 Nebraska), #18 Michigan (to #14 Minnesota and unranked Wisconsin)

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