There was absolute havoc in the women's college volleyball sphere this week. Attendance records were broken, four of last week's Power 10 teams fell and only two teams in the nation remain undefeated. See Michella Chester's Week 9 Power 10 rankings below:
1. Nebraska (Previous: 2)
The Huskers battled fellow undefeated Wisconsin in a five-set thriller Saturday night. Despite playing from behind for the majority of the match, Nebraska emerged victorious with wins in sets 1, 4 and 5.
⏪️ REWIND: How Nebraska beat Wisconsin to claim the top spot in DI volleyball
This skirmish lived up to every expectation of the record-breaking crowd of 9,198 fans that packed the Bob Devaney Center. The top-2 duel was scrappy from the start; Wisconsin out-hit Nebraska .217 to .130 as the Huskers erred over twice the amount (44) that the Badgers did (18). Nebraska also got out-blocked by Wisconsin, 18-7, but Big Red tallied three aces to Wisconsin's zero.
The teams were evenly-matched across the board through the fourth set. Wisconsin led the fifth frame up until the 12th point, which was the first of three Harper Murray kills that gave Nebraska the advantage (then the game was put away by a net violation). Nebraska OH Merritt Beason led the match with 21 kills — one off from her career high — on 52 swings and seven digs. Bergen Reilly and Lexi Rodriguez came up big in the backcourt, tallying 17 digs apiece for the Huskers.
Nebraska and unranked Citadel are the only two teams left without a loss this season, with respective 19-0 and 22-0 records.
2. Wisconsin (1)
Wisconsin appeared to be in the driver's seat after taking the first set against Nebraska. Returning the likes of MJ Hammill and Devyn Robinson to the lineup after the tandem missed the past three matches due to injury, the Badgers were back at full strength in the top-2 matchup. Consequently, the Badgers commanded the block, with Caroline Crawford and Carter Booth contributing nine each and Anna Smrek and Robinson adding six and five, respectively. Wisconsin also sided out 64.7 percent of the time compared to the Huskers' 60.9 percent. The Badgers ultimately gave up a two-point lead late in the fifth set, which cost them their spot at the top of the rankings. Wisconsin's 27-match conference streak was snapped as well as their program-best 18-win start to the season. With one loss, they're still No. 2 here.
3. Stanford (3)
The Cardinal faced its sixth top-10 test this season — most of any other team — this time against Oregon, and staked their claim in top-3 territory with a four-set win. Both teams finished with eight aces. In the end, Stanford topped Oregon to maintain its perfect road record and a 28-match Pac-12 streak. Star hitter Kendall Kipp killed 17 on 44 attempts. A roadtrip to Arizona State this week will pose another challenge for the Cardinal — the Sun Devils are ranked third in the Pac-12 and recently beat Oregon as well.
Flying high 🌲#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/EhLzmKu3KV
— Stanford Women's Volleyball (@StanfordWVB) October 23, 2023
4. Louisville (5)
Louisville dropped three sets this week in wins over Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, but move up in this week's rankings due to Washington State's loss. Anna DeBeer showed off in the first match with a double-double of 17 kills and 11 digs, along with five service aces. Charitie Luper had a night against the Hokies, notching a career-best 20 kills. The Cardinals continue to hold their opponents to a low clip, currently .160, while Louisville is averaging .288 — the Cards still stand atop the ACC rankings.
5. Washington State (4)
A reverse sweep defeat against unranked USC sinks the Cougars down a spot in these rankings, but doesn't drop them out of the top-5. Washington State dominated the first two sets against the Trojans Friday, hitting a combined .323 and winning 12 of 15 sideout points in the second. The Cougs kept up with USC as it gained momentum in the third and fourth, but Washington State lost sight of the game by Set 5, falling 15-8. This was Wazzu's third loss of the season, its first unranked one at that, and the Cougars will be sized up by Oregon next week again as Washington State looks to beat the Ducks for the second time this season.
6. Texas (6)
You're welcome#HookEm pic.twitter.com/JMFO09IAEj
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) October 20, 2023
For the first time in 2023, Texas was forced to play a fifth set. Unranked TCU claimed the opening set and didn't let off the gas in Schollmaier Arena through the fifth frame in front of a sold-out 7,412-person crowd (also a TCU program record). The Horned Frogs performed better across almost every stat line, out-scoring the Longhorns by nearly 15 points, but stumbled with 16 service errors — the last of which decided the match. Texas came up big when it mattered most in the final set; six of Madisen Skinner's 19 kills that night came in clutch during the fifth, as well as three from Jenna Wenaas. The Longhorns play Baylor twice this week, looking to improve on their 7-2 home record.
7. Oregon (7)
The Ducks stay put in this week's rankings despite their loss to Stanford. Oregon out-swung the Cardinal 138-135, out-killed them 55-52, and out-blocked them 8-7, but still fell in four sets. The Ducks stayed on Stanford's tail during the entire match though, tying the score 22 times and trading the lead nine times — they finished within three points of the Cardinal in every set but the last one. Setter Hannah Pukis assisted 48 and dug up 18, which was her best four-set dig performance of the season. Oregon won't be let off easy quite yet as they travel north to play No. 5 Washington State and Washington during Week 9.
8. BYU (8) | 9. Pitt (9)
Both of these squads accomplished what they needed to this weekend, with BYU sweeping Iowa State and Pitt beating Virginia and NC State — who recently upset Louisville — in straight sets. These two teams post 18-3 records and rank second in their respective conferences; BYU behind Texas in the Big 12 and Pitt behind Louisville in the ACC.
10. Arkansas (10)
FIRST KNOXVILLE DUB IN NINE YEARS JUST MEANS MORE, Y'ALL 🐗 pic.twitter.com/JI9ur7L9Sv
— Razorback Volleyball (@RazorbackVB) October 21, 2023
Finally, it's the Razorbacks who hold onto the last spot in the Week 9 Power 10. Arkansas took home a huge victory over No. 12 Tennessee but then lost to No. 20 Kentucky in five. In Arkansas' defense, the Wildcats have improved a ton this season, so not a bad loss there — Arkansas still out-aced Kentucky 9-3 and scored one more point than them in the match. This is a fickle spot though and could change pretty quickly.
