Duck Volleyball Tabbed No. 11 in Sixth AVCA Poll

In recent weeks, Oregon ranked seventh the last two editions to match its second-best mark ever that it also held in two editions last October.

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EUGENE, Ore. - The University of Oregon volleyball team ranked 11th nationally and third among the season-high eight Pac-10 teams sighted in this week’s sixth edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll released Monday.

UO (11-2, 1-2) trailed only No. 3 Washington (14-0, 4-0) and No. 7 Stanford (9-4, 2-1) in the “Conference of Champions”, which continued to dominate the weekly rankings.

The other Pac-10 teams following UO included No. 13 USC (13-3, 2-2), No. 16 UCLA (12-5, 2-2), No. 15 California (8-5, 1-2), No. 22 Arizona (12-3, 1-3) and No. 25 Washington State (14-1, 3-1), while Oregon State (10-5, 1-2) also received votes for the second straight week.

For comparison's sake, Stanford improved four spots this week, Washington, UCLA and USC stayed the same, and Arizona, Oregon and California dropped four, four and five spots, respectively.

Another recent Duck opponent - No. 5 Minnesota (13-3) - improved three positions barely 2 1/2 weeks after UO won their showdown in the Denver Classic, 25-22, 27-25, 22-25, 15-25, 15-10 in mid-September.

Overall in this week's sixth poll of the season, returning national champion Penn State (16-0) was tabbed first again with 48 of 60 possible first-place votes, while No. 2 Texas (11-0) followed in second place and had nine first-place votes. No. 3 Washington (14-0) picked up the other three first-place votes, and was followed by No. 4 Hawai'i (13-2), while the former fifth-ranked team Florida (11-2) dropped a spot to No. 6 behind No. 5 Minnesota.

The complete poll is listed below, and more information on the AVCA and its polls are available at its www.AVCA.org website. To read an AVCA release about this week's poll, go to the http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/polls/ address.

In recent weeks, Oregon ranked seventh the last two editions to match its second-best mark ever that it also held in two editions last October, while its all-time high (sixth) also came last October.

Altogether, the Ducks' string of top-15 rankings is now 28 straight polls strong, and previous rankings follow: 2009: Preseason - 14th, 8/31 - 14th, 9/7 - 12th, 9/14 - 14th; 9/21 - 7th; 9/28 – 7th; 10/5 – 11th. 2008: Preseason - 11th; 9/2 - 13th; 9/9 - 12th; 9/17 - 12th; 9/24 - 11th; 9/30 - 11th; 10/6 - 7th; 10/13 - 6th; 10/20 - 7th; 10/27 - 7th; 11/3 - 8th; 11/10 - 8th; 11/17 - 8th; 11/24 - 8th; 12/1 - 7th; 12/23 - 9th. 2007: 11/12 - 14th; 11/19 - 13th; 11/26 - 13th; 12/3 - ninth; 12/10 - ninth.

Looking ahead to this weekend’s action, Oregon heads to the desert to play at Arizona State (11-5, 1-3) and No. 22 Arizona (12-3, 1-3), Friday and Saturday October 9 and 10, with both matches set for a 7 p.m. start. Last Friday, UO lost a five-set nail-biter at Oregon State; Arizona was swept on the road at the Washington schools; and ASU was swept at No. 3 Washington and lost 3-2 at No. 25 Washington State.

AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll

2009 Poll #6: October 5, 2009

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2009 Record Last Week

1 Penn State (48) 1485 16-0 1

2 Texas (9) 1441 11-0 2

3 Washington (3) 1394 14-0 3

4 Hawai’i 1320 13-2 4

5 Minnesota 1207 13-3 8

6 Florida 1090 11-2 5

7 Stanford 1073 9-4 11

8 Michigan 1046 15-2 6

9 Nebraska 952 10-4 10

10 Kentucky 883 15-1 15

11 Oregon 872 11-2 7

12 Illinois 816 10-3 12

13 USC 774 13-3 13

14 Iowa State 739 12-3 14

15 California 726 8-5 9

16 UCLA 688 12-5 16

17 Baylor 583 16-1 19

18 Michigan State 372 14-2 23

19 Florida State 350 12-2 17

20 Long Beach State 330 10-3 22

21 Saint Louis 271 10-5 21

22 Arizona 216 12-3 18

23 UC Irvine 185 13-3 24

24 San Diego 122 9-4 20

25 Washington State 113 14-1 NR

Others Receiving Votes (and appearing on two or more ballots): Texas A&M 88; LSU 42; Oregon State 42; St. Mary's (Ca.) 38; Colorado State 33; Notre Dame 32; Dayton 26; Duke 25; UC Santa Barbara 25; Wichita State 22; Pepperdine 18; Northern Iowa 16; Missouri State 13; Indiana 9; Purdue 9; Cal State Fullerton 6

Five schools were listed on only one ballot for a total of eight points.

Dropped Out: Wichita State (25)

Next poll: October 12, 2009

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