Monday, October 7, 2013

NCAA | Washington volleyball remains highly ranked in national coaches’ poll

Huskies tumble, but maintain respect in AVCA poll after a first loss of season

After a brief moment at the top of the mountain, voters in the weekly AVCA coaches’ poll sent the Washington Huskies back down to #6, matching their lowest ranking in the seven weeks of the 2013 season.
Pac-12 Offensive Player of  the Week Alexis Olgard led #1-ranked USC to wins over Stanford and Cal
-USC Athletics


USC returned to #1, though it wasn’t easy. After dismantling #8 Stanford on Friday, the Trojans barely beat Cal on Sunday. Cal couldn’t convert set point in the first set, and allowed SC to squeak by 15-13 in the fifth.

Those who look for silliness in this poll have plenty to pick on. Michigan is 1-3 in the Big Ten, including a loss Saturday to unranked Illinois, yet it remains ranked #17, ahead of #19 Wisconsin (3-1 in Big Ten play). Likewise, Purdue is 1-3 in conference, and overrated at #20.

Most ridiculous, however, is UCLA’s continued presence in the Top 25. The Bruins are 0-4 in the Pac-12, and are clearly inferior thus far to unranked Cal and unranked Colorado. Cal beat UCLA Friday and the Buffs haven beaten both UCLA and Washington (though CU also lost last week to Wyoming.)

This week’s AVCA poll:

WEEK SEVEN
AVCA Coaches
School
(First Place votes)
Volleyblog
Seattle
This Week
Last Week
1
2
Southern California (47)
1
2
3
Florida (6)
4
3
4
Texas (2)
7
4
5
Penn St
6
5
6
Hawai’i (4)
2
6
1
Washington
5
7
9
Michigan St
3
8
7
Stanford
10
9
10
Nebraska
8
10
11
North Carolina
11
11
8
Minnesota
9
12
13
San Diego
18
13
17
Colorado St
13
14
12
Ohio St
15
15
19
Kentucky
19
16
15
Arizona St
14
17
14
Michigan
NR
18
20
Ohio
20
19
23
Wisconsin
12
20
24
Purdue
NR
21
18
Florida St
NR
22
21
Oregon
NR
23
16
UCLA
NR
24
NR
BYU
16
25
NR
Missouri
NR
NR
NR
Miami (FL)
17

Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Oklahoma 79; California 76; Duke 68; Western Kentucky 55; Colorado 53; Illinois 46; Kansas 42; Creighton 32; St. Mary's (CA) 32; Miami (FL) 26; Iowa State 16; Cal State Northridge 12; Kansas State 5; Butler 3

NOTES:
  • USC swept this week’s Pac-12 Player of the Week awards, with Spokane’s Alexis Olgard earning the honors for offense, All-American libero Natalie Hagglund winning the defense award, and Ebony Nwanebu winning the freshman award for the second straight week and the third time (in six weeks) this season. With all due respect to the Trojans, there are a few players in Colorado who might be wondering what it takes to get some votes here.
  • One of Volleyblog Seattle’s favorite Cinderella teams is Central Arkansas. Earlier this season, the Sugar Bears upset Kansas, and coach David McFatrich has his team 14-3 overall and 6-0 in the Southland Conference. This week, Central Arkansas swept the conference player of the week awards, and—get this—all five players atop this week’s conference hitting percentage leaderboard are Sugar Bears.



1 comment:

  1. Congrats, Sugar Bears! Enjoyed seeing them play in Seattle last year.

    ReplyDelete

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