Nebraska Volleyball Falls to Third in Final Regular-Season AVCA Rankings

The Huskers trailed Penn State and Pittsburgh in the final tally but still received a first-first-place vote.

Rebekah Allick (5) and Merritt Beason (13) block a Creighton kill. / Amarillo Mullen

For the first time since mid-September, Nebraska volleyball is not holding one of the top two spots in college volleyball.

The Huskers (29-2, 19-1 B1G) ended their regular season with a share of the Big Ten title following a split weekend -- a four-set loss at Penn State and a victory at Maryland. The Black Friday loss to the Nittany Lions pushed Penn State ahead of the Huskers in the final poll, slotting them at No. 2. Both teams received one first place vote in the final AVCA regular season rankings, trailing the 59 first-place votes from No. 1 Pittsburgh.

It is the first time since the Sept. 16 rankings that Nebraska is not in the top two. Nebraska earned a season-high 14 first-place votes in last week's poll following sweeps over Iowa and Wisconsin.

Andi Jackson / Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska lost a total of nine sets in Big Ten play this season. The road loss to No. 2 Penn State ended a 25-match winning streak that included conference wins over several ranked conference foes, including No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 14 Oregon, No. 15 Minnesota, and No. 19 USC.

Nebraska has also collected wins over No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Creighton, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 11 Kentucky and No. 20 TCU, giving the Huskers 11 wins over currently ranked foes.

The Big Ten remains strong in the rankings with seven teams represented while eight teams were listed on two or more ballots.

Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point against Louisville. / Nebraska Athletics

The ACC flexed its conference depth once again with top-rated Pittsburgh, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford, No. 10 SMU, No. 18 Georgia Tech, and No. 21 Florida State. SMU is the only team with wins over two of the top three teams in the country, defeating Nebraska in September before taking down Pittsburgh in October.

The Creighton Bluejays remained perfect in Big East play, claiming their Big East regular-season and conference tournament titletitles over the past two weeks. Their No. 6 ranking is the second-highest ranking in program history, behind the Bluejays' No. 5 ranking held through most of October and November.

Nebraska begins its NCAA Volleyball Tournament postseason in the Lincoln Regional on Friday, welcoming Florida A&M to the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. CST.

AVCA Poll

1. Pittsburgh
2. Penn State
3. Nebraska
4. Louisville
5. Stanford
6. Creighton
7. Wisconsin
8. Arizona State
9. Purdue
10. SMU
11. Kentucky
12. Kansas
13. Texas
14. Oregon
15. Minnesota
16. Baylor
17. Utah
18. Georgia Tech
19. Southern California
20. TCU
21. Florida State
22. Florida
23. Dayton
24. BYU
25. Missouri

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