2017 Week 4: AVCA Poll Notes and Preview
Sept 13, 2017 18:10:20 GMT -5
traveler, Millennium, and 1 more like this
Post by lionsfan on Sept 13, 2017 18:10:20 GMT -5
Here are the poll notes for this week...
Climbing Up: With its thrilling five-set won over Stanford, Penn State improved to 12-9 against the Cardinal, and are 5-4 against them in five-set matches. The win helped propel the team up a spot to #2, their highest ranking since being #1 in Week 11 of 2015. One other bit of poll history: With their fourth consecutive week in the Top 10, Penn State has now tied UCLA for fifth-place all time with 338 weeks being ranked in the Top 10 (the Bruins led them by 4 weeks entering this season, and have hovered just outside the Top 10 so far this year). Texas entered the year five weeks ahead of the Nittany Lions on the list and have held that lead. Both trail #3 Hawaii, who will probably stay at 366 weeks for the immediate future.
Golden Performance: With their highly impressive 3-1 win at Texas (which upped their all-time series record to 5-4), Minnesota maintained its hold on #1—just the seventh week in school history they have topped the rankings. If they can stay there one more week, they will tie their three-week stink at the top in 2004. The Gophers are three weeks behind Texas and Washington, who tie for 10th place all-time with 10 weeks at #1.
Idle Issue: Hurricane Irma did the Florida teams no favors this weekend, canceling matches for Florida (including an anticipated contest with Michigan State) and Florida State (who was to have played Arizona and Tennessee). That idle week probably contributed to Minnesota and Penn State picking up for first-place votes—the Gophers picked up 11, while Penn State picked up 2 (one of which was Ohio State’s Geoff Carlston, the only coach to still have Stanford at #1 following their loss to Penn State at Texas A&M). The rescheduled match between the Gators and Seminoles will take place on Tuesday in Gainesville. The Gators hold a 39-19 edge, although it has been more competitive in recent years.
Circular Logic: Remember two weekends ago when Creighton, Kentucky, Southern Cal and Northern Iowa all played each other, and everyone notched at least one good win and made it hard on the pollsters? Creighton was involved in another tough tournament with similar results, sweeping the Jayhawks at Kansas…but also losing to Purdue, who lost to Kansas. The lesson here? All of these teams are very good. They all saw minor shifts, with Purdue rising two spots as the Jayhawks moved up one, just above Kansas.
From the Bluejay SID: “This is the fifth straight poll dating to last season with Creighton ranked in the top-10, tied for the nation's sixth-longest active streak. The Bluejays are the only team with multiple top-10 road wins this season, and also the nation's only club with a top-25 victory each of the first three weekends of the season. Creighton's three top-25 wins this season tie it for the national lead with Florida. Creighton is 39-12 all-time when playing as a ranked team in the AVCA poll, and 6-8 when facing another ranked team while ranked. The Bluejays have now been ranked in 24 all-time polls, including each of the last 10 editions.”
The Bluejays’ brutal pre-conference stretch continues with battles in Wichita against the host Shockers (who picked up their first two losses of the season last weekend, 0-3 against Oregon and 2-3 against Cal Poly, to fall just outside the poll) and #19 Iowa State (who dropped its first match of the season last night against Northern Iowa).
Other Notable Results
The Big Matches: Week 4
This is a very quiet week, but great showdowns in Utah and Wichita are the highlights…and a lot of potential “upsets” in the cards. Lionsfan is particularly interested in how 9-0 Maryland does at home against some PAC powers, to see if Notre Dame can upset another ranked Big Ten team, and he thinks it's a shame Colorado isn't ranked (it should be), because that would draw even more attention to its battle at Colorado State this weekend (remember that tournament thriller in 2014?!):
#8 Creighton vs. #19 Iowa State (N)
#14 BYU @ #16 Utah
Upset watch
Lionsfan’s Top 25
(Iowa State/Northern Iowa match NOT taken into account for this poll)
1. Minnesota (+5)
2. Florida (-1)
3. Penn State
4. Wisconsin (+2)
5. Stanford (-1)
6. Texas (-4)
7. Creighton
8. Kansas (+1)
9. Oregon (+2)
10. Nebraska (+2)
11. Washington (-1)
12. Kentucky (+2)
13. Utah (+5)
14. Purdue (+6)
15. UCLA (-7)
16. Southern Cal (-1)
17. San Diego (-1)
18. Colorado State (+4)
19. BYU (-6)
20. Iowa State (+3)
21. Michigan (-4)
22. Colorado (NR)
23. Florida State (+1)
24. Illinois (+1)
25. Baylor (NR)
Dropped out: Wichita State, Northern Iowa
Dropped out previous week: North Carolina, Lipscomb, Baylor
Dropped out previous previous week: Michigan State, Hawaii, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Colorado State
Climbing Up: With its thrilling five-set won over Stanford, Penn State improved to 12-9 against the Cardinal, and are 5-4 against them in five-set matches. The win helped propel the team up a spot to #2, their highest ranking since being #1 in Week 11 of 2015. One other bit of poll history: With their fourth consecutive week in the Top 10, Penn State has now tied UCLA for fifth-place all time with 338 weeks being ranked in the Top 10 (the Bruins led them by 4 weeks entering this season, and have hovered just outside the Top 10 so far this year). Texas entered the year five weeks ahead of the Nittany Lions on the list and have held that lead. Both trail #3 Hawaii, who will probably stay at 366 weeks for the immediate future.
Golden Performance: With their highly impressive 3-1 win at Texas (which upped their all-time series record to 5-4), Minnesota maintained its hold on #1—just the seventh week in school history they have topped the rankings. If they can stay there one more week, they will tie their three-week stink at the top in 2004. The Gophers are three weeks behind Texas and Washington, who tie for 10th place all-time with 10 weeks at #1.
Idle Issue: Hurricane Irma did the Florida teams no favors this weekend, canceling matches for Florida (including an anticipated contest with Michigan State) and Florida State (who was to have played Arizona and Tennessee). That idle week probably contributed to Minnesota and Penn State picking up for first-place votes—the Gophers picked up 11, while Penn State picked up 2 (one of which was Ohio State’s Geoff Carlston, the only coach to still have Stanford at #1 following their loss to Penn State at Texas A&M). The rescheduled match between the Gators and Seminoles will take place on Tuesday in Gainesville. The Gators hold a 39-19 edge, although it has been more competitive in recent years.
Circular Logic: Remember two weekends ago when Creighton, Kentucky, Southern Cal and Northern Iowa all played each other, and everyone notched at least one good win and made it hard on the pollsters? Creighton was involved in another tough tournament with similar results, sweeping the Jayhawks at Kansas…but also losing to Purdue, who lost to Kansas. The lesson here? All of these teams are very good. They all saw minor shifts, with Purdue rising two spots as the Jayhawks moved up one, just above Kansas.
From the Bluejay SID: “This is the fifth straight poll dating to last season with Creighton ranked in the top-10, tied for the nation's sixth-longest active streak. The Bluejays are the only team with multiple top-10 road wins this season, and also the nation's only club with a top-25 victory each of the first three weekends of the season. Creighton's three top-25 wins this season tie it for the national lead with Florida. Creighton is 39-12 all-time when playing as a ranked team in the AVCA poll, and 6-8 when facing another ranked team while ranked. The Bluejays have now been ranked in 24 all-time polls, including each of the last 10 editions.”
The Bluejays’ brutal pre-conference stretch continues with battles in Wichita against the host Shockers (who picked up their first two losses of the season last weekend, 0-3 against Oregon and 2-3 against Cal Poly, to fall just outside the poll) and #19 Iowa State (who dropped its first match of the season last night against Northern Iowa).
Other Notable Results
- Notre Dame's 3-1 win over Ohio State (coming two days after they were swept in Columbus) was the Fighting Irish's first over a ranked opponent since toppling No. 10 Louisville 3-2 on Sept. 23, 2012. Notre Dame is now 7-1 on the season and receiving votes. (We see you, Jim McLaughlin...we see you!)
- Down 0-2, Cal Poly fought back for a 3-2 over #23 Wichita State: 25-23, 25-21, 28-26, 25-16, 15-9. Lionsfan was curious when the last time Cal Poly beat a ranked opponent was, but their SID disappointed him, although it did offer this nugget: "The win gives Cal Poly its third victory over a ranked opponent in the last three seasons." The 7-2 Mustangs are now receiving votes...congrats!
- Also down 0-2, Baylor fought back to beat previously unbeaten BYU at Hawaii: 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 15-10. From the Baylor SID: "The Bears earn their first top-10 win since upsetting No. 9 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 5, 2009, and their first regular season top-10 win since Sept. 24, 2003 (No. 9 Kansas State)."
- With wins over LIU Brooklyn and LSU, North Carolina was the only new entrant in the poll, re-entering at #24 and taking the spot vacated by the Shockers. But at 2-4, Lionsfan is kind of shocked (get it?!) that’s enough to impress the pollsters.
The Big Matches: Week 4
This is a very quiet week, but great showdowns in Utah and Wichita are the highlights…and a lot of potential “upsets” in the cards. Lionsfan is particularly interested in how 9-0 Maryland does at home against some PAC powers, to see if Notre Dame can upset another ranked Big Ten team, and he thinks it's a shame Colorado isn't ranked (it should be), because that would draw even more attention to its battle at Colorado State this weekend (remember that tournament thriller in 2014?!):
#8 Creighton vs. #19 Iowa State (N)
#14 BYU @ #16 Utah
Upset watch
- Oregon State vs. #1 Minnesota (N)
- Lipscomb @ #3 Florida
- Marquette @ #5 Wisconsin
- Texas A&M vs. #6 Texas
- Maryland vs. #7 Washington
- Wichita State vs. #8 Creighton
- Northern Iowa vs. #10 Nebraska (N)
- Louisville @ #12 Kentucky
- Loyola Marymount @ #13 UCLA
- Maryland vs. #18 Southern Cal
- Oklahoma vs. #18 Southern Cal (N)
- Northern Iowa @ #19 Iowa State (The Panthers won 3-2 last night)
- Wichita State vs. #19 Iowa State
- Auburn @ #20 Florida State
- N.C. State @ #21 Michigan
- Colorado @ #22 Colorado State
- Notre Dame vs. #23 Michigan State
- Loyola Marymount @ #24 North Carolina
- Coastal Carolina @ #24 North Carolina
- Western Kentucky @ #25 Ohio State
- Dayton vs. #25 Ohio State (N)
Lionsfan’s Top 25
(Iowa State/Northern Iowa match NOT taken into account for this poll)
1. Minnesota (+5)
2. Florida (-1)
3. Penn State
4. Wisconsin (+2)
5. Stanford (-1)
6. Texas (-4)
7. Creighton
8. Kansas (+1)
9. Oregon (+2)
10. Nebraska (+2)
11. Washington (-1)
12. Kentucky (+2)
13. Utah (+5)
14. Purdue (+6)
15. UCLA (-7)
16. Southern Cal (-1)
17. San Diego (-1)
18. Colorado State (+4)
19. BYU (-6)
20. Iowa State (+3)
21. Michigan (-4)
22. Colorado (NR)
23. Florida State (+1)
24. Illinois (+1)
25. Baylor (NR)
Dropped out: Wichita State, Northern Iowa
Dropped out previous week: North Carolina, Lipscomb, Baylor
Dropped out previous previous week: Michigan State, Hawaii, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Colorado State
