Nebraska Volleyball Remains Behind Pittsburgh in AVCA Polls, Loses First Place Vote

Nebraska volleyball remains locked into the runner-up spot in the latest AVCA Coaches rankings released on Monday afternoon. Despite remaining unblemished in their conference record, the Huskers dropped another first place vote for the second week.

Oct 25, 2024; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers setter Bergen Reilly (2) and middle blocker Rebekah Allick (5) get a block against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the first set at Bob Devaney Sports Center. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska volleyball continues to receive near-top marks in the latest top-25 rankings, but has failed to garner more recognition for two consecutive weeks.

The Huskers (20-1, 10-0 B1G) are once again voted as the No. 2 team in the country in the latest edition of the AVCA Coaches rankings. Nebraska has been in the second position for five consecutive weeks behind the Atlantic Coast Conference's Pittsburgh Panthers. Pitt remains atop the polls nabbing 51 total first place votes.

Nebraska has garnered first place votes each week while at No. 2, but have lost first-place consideration in two consecutive weeks. In the Oct. 14 edition of the rankings, the Huskers garnered 19 first-place votes followed by ten in last week's poll. The Big Red nabbed only nine first place votes in this week's AVCA poll.

Oct 25, 2024; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers outside hitter Harper Murray (27) celebrates after a point against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the first set at Bob Devaney Sports Center. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska was last rated No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll leading into the final week of the 2023 regular season on Nov. 27, being slated as the top overall seed in the 2023 national tournament. Big Ten foe Penn State (20-1, 10-0 B1G) garnered a first place vote in this week's poll as well, sitting the Nittany Lions at No. 3.

The Huskers had received a first-place vote in every AVCA ranking this season outside of two weeks - following their loss at SMU on Sept. 3 and in the Oct. 7 rankings in which Pittsburgh earned all 61 first-place bids.

The Big Ten Conference remains strong in the rankings, with four teams in the top ten including Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin (No. 7) and Oregon (No. 10). Purdue (No. 11), Minnesota (No. 15), and USC (No. 21) are also featured giving the conference seven teams in the rankings while Washington, Michigan, and UCLA all garnered votes as well.

The ACC has three teams within the top five, as No. 1 Pittsburgh is also placed with No. 4 Louisville and No. 5 Stanford. The conference has a total of seven teams - matching the Big Ten - with No. 12 SMU, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 23 Florida State, and No. 25 North Carolina. Virginia also received votes for consideration.

Nebraska Volleyball / Amarillo Mullen

The Huskers have played 10 ranked teams this season, and include four wins inside of the top 10 over Louisville (No. 4), Stanford (No. 5), Creighton (No. 6), and Oregon (No. 10). Nebraska has also collected wins against Purdue (No. 11), Arizona State (No. 13), Kentucky (No. 14), USC (No. 21), Michigan (RV) and UCLA (RV).

Nebraska remains with two more top-10 matchups this season against No. 3 Penn State and No. 7 Wisconsin. The Big Red will also battle No. 10 Oregon on Nov. 7, RV Washington on Nov. 9, and No. 15 Minnesota on Nov. 14. Saturday's ranked battle against the Badgers breaks a streak of five matches in which Nebraska did not face a ranked foe - their longest stretch this season.

The opening serve between the Huskers and Badgers in Madison, Wis. is set for 8 p.m. CDT on Friday. Television coverage will be provided by the Big Ten Network.

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