COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M broke in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 25 rankings today, crashing in at No. 21 following consecutive victories against top-15 ranked opponents last week.
The Aggies previously had not even been mentioned as receiving votes this season, but they sent shockwaves through the Division I volleyball community last week by stunning both No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego in back-to-back matches at the USC Classic in Los Angeles.
A&M, appearing in the AVCA Top 25 for the first time since a No. 21 showing in the 2009 final poll, spoiled USC's home opener by defeating the previously undefeated Women of Troy, 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 25-27, 25-13, 16-14), on Thursday. It was A&M's first-ever victory in nine all-time meetings against USC. It also marked only the second time USC lost to a non-Pacific 12 Conference team at Galen Center, and it was A&M's highest ranked true road win since stunning No. 3 Hawaii at the 1999 NCAA regional semifinals in Honolulu.
A&M then extended its win streak to five matches and improved to 7-1 on the season by upsetting No. 13 San Diego, 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 25-17), on Friday to go 2-0 at the USC Classic.
The top five ranked teams remained the same in this week's poll, with Stanford holding the top spot, followed by Texas, Penn State, Wisconsin and Washington, respectively.
In addition to Texas A&M, the Southeastern Conference is represented in the poll by Florida, which climbed three spots to No. 7, and Kentucky, which moved up one spot to No. 15.
Florida State, which comes to Reed Arena Friday and Saturday for a pair of matches against the Aggies, climbed one spot to No. 6. The Aggies and Seminoles face off Friday at 6 p.m. at and then take the court again Saturday at 11 a.m.
There will be several promotional events, including “Social Media Night” and “Fish Camp Night” on Friday. On Saturday, there will be a Girl Scout event in the volleyball practice gym prior to the match. In addition, BINGO cards will be given out, and winning cards can be taken to the 12th Man table to redeem for prizes. Also there will be a post-match autograph session with the Aggie volleyball team.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.
The complete AVCA Top 25 Poll, released Sept. 15, 2014:
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Points |
2014 Record |
Previous Week |
|
1 |
Stanford (52) |
1491 |
7-0 |
1 |
|
2 |
Texas (6) |
1411 |
7-0 |
2 |
|
3 |
Penn State |
1376 |
8-1 |
3 |
|
4 |
Wisconsin (2) |
1321 |
8-0 |
4 |
|
5 |
Washington |
1287 |
9-0 |
5 |
|
6 |
Florida State |
1209 |
8-0 |
7 |
|
7 |
Florida |
1121 |
5-2 |
10 |
|
8 |
Colorado State |
969 |
9-1 |
14 |
|
9 |
Nebraska |
960 |
5-2 |
11 |
|
10 |
Southern California |
920 |
6-2 |
6 |
|
11 |
Purdue |
869 |
8-1 |
8 |
|
12 |
BYU |
846 |
7-2 |
9 |
|
13 |
North Carolina |
770 |
7-1 |
17 |
|
14 |
Oregon |
763 |
8-0 |
18 |
|
15 |
Kentucky |
586 |
8-2 |
16 |
|
16 |
Illinois |
493 |
5-3 |
12 |
|
17 |
Minnesota |
459 |
6-1 |
19 |
|
18 |
Arizona State |
433 |
8-1 |
15 |
|
19 |
San Diego |
412 |
5-3 |
13 |
|
20 |
Arizona |
377 |
8-1 |
21 |
|
21 |
Texas A&M |
346 |
7-1 |
NR |
|
22 |
UCLA |
322 |
6-2 |
25 |
|
23 |
Loyola Marymount |
144 |
9-0 |
NR |
|
24 |
Kansas |
138 |
9-2 |
24 |
|
25 |
Michigan State |
117 |
5-3 |
23 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Hawai'i 95; Duke 91; Western Kentucky 30; Appalachian State 24; Creighton 23; Kansas State 23; Oklahoma 19; Iowa State 14; Northwestern 8; SMU 8; Santa Clara 6; Louisville 5
Six teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 14 combined points.
Dropped Out: Hawai'i 22; Duke 20
Next Poll: September 22, 2014