Here is my Week 12 Power 10 rankings.
Things are getting messy, especially in the ACC:
1. Nebraska (Prev. 1)
Nebraska is still undisputed up top. I say the same thing every week, but I think the Huskers are leaps and bounds above the rest right now. Even with its first set loss since September against UCLA, it's ridiculous that that is even a big deal.
🎬🎬🎬
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB)
📈 TRACK: The remaining undefeated team in women's volleyball
2. Kentucky (Prev. 2)
Kentucky at No. 2 is SOLID here. They just earned the No. 1 seed for the SEC tournament, after going undefeated through SEC play. That is just really impressive with what is now such a deep conference. We saw an incredible response with double-digit kills from Eva Hudson, Brooklyn DeLeye and Lizzie Carr, as they reverse swept a solid Oklahoma team.
3. Texas (Prev. 3)
Texas is at No. 3 again. The Longhorns are even more solidified here now that Pitt picked up another loss. Torrey Stafford is really maximizing her potential at this point in the season with over 30 kills and hitting over .400 in the five set win over Auburn.
🥉TRIOS: The best freshmen trios in women's volleyball history
4. Pitt (Prev. 4)
There could be different opinions for the No. 4 spot, but I am keeping Pitt here. At this point in the season, I really think you need to look at the entire body of work and the eye test. Pitt’s resume is still better than every team I have below them, and a five-set road loss to a top 5 AVCA-ranked Stanford team is not a bad loss. I decided to keep them at No. 4.
5. Louisville (Prev. 6)
Stanford had the chance to move up more, but they weren't able to pull out the win against SMU on Sunday. Overall, I think Louisville and Stanford deserve to move up. The Cardinals showed some grit with a five set win over Miami. Payton Petersen had a career high 24 kills.
6. Stanford (Prev. 7)
And then Stanford moves up to No. 6 with the big win over Pitt. I was really impressed with Julia Blyashov, who notched a career-high 20 kills on .349 hitting, and Elia Rubin was big time from behind the service line in big moments.
Harvey making it look TOO easy 👏 x 🎥 ESPN2 /
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball)
7. Texas A&M (Prev. 5)
At No. 7, I have Texas A&M. They are only dropping because I need to move up Louisville and Stanford. They earned a No. 2 seed heading into the SEC tournament after an impressive weekend with sweeps over Florida and Georgia.
📺 WATCH: Aggie Emily Hellmuth mic'd up
8. SMU (Prev. 10)
At No. 8 is SMU after a fantastic win over Stanford. Averi Carlson looks incredible right now, running a smooth, balanced offense. Malaya Jones is hard to stop, even with her injuries. But with five losses, I just couldn’t move them higher quite yet.
Terminated. |
— SMU Volleyball (@SMUVolleyball)
9. Arizona State (Prev. 8)
Arizona is at No. 9. They are lower than some other people’s rankings, but I like the ranked wins of the teams above them more. The Sun Devils earned a great five set win over a gritty Colorado team over the weekend.
10. Wisconsin (Prev. NR)
And at No. 10, welcome back Wisconsin after two sweeps at 20-4. Charlie Fuerbringer is back, and the team is looking back to full strength. I moved them back in after Purdue dropped a match to Oregon. Purdue is my first team out at 11.
