Volleyball On SI

AVCA Rankings: Kentucky, Tennessee Rise Following Upset Wins

Only five teams have held their spot from the prior week.

Nicole Reitz

Tennessee rises in the AVCA Top 25 Ranking after defeating Penn State.
Tennessee rises in the AVCA Top 25 Ranking after defeating Penn State. / Tennessee Athletics

The latest AVCA rankings are in, and only five teams have held their spot from the prior week. 

Nebraska swept Creighton for the 25th straight time, while Wisconsin came out revamped after a 1-1 trip to Texas and beat Marquette and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before entering Big Ten play this week. 

Additionally, Kentucky upset Louisville in four intense sets; Tennessee went to Happy Valley and upset Penn State, and Texas A&M put more pressure on Creighton, handing the Bluejays a fifth straight loss. 

Here’s a look at what’s changed in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll, plus which programs are heating up and which ones are trending downward. 

AVCA Top 25 Rankings 

  1. Nebraska (Previous Rank: 1) 
  2. Pittsburgh (Previous Rank: 2) 
  3. Kentucky (Previous Rank: 4) 
  4. Louisville (Previous Rank: 3) 
  5. SMU (Previous Rank: 5) 
  6. Wisconsin (Previous Rank: 6) 
  7. Texas (Previous Rank: 7) 
  8. Florida (Previous Rank: 10) 
  9. Arizona State (Previous Rank: 12) 
  10. Purdue (Previous Rank: 11) 
  11. TCU (Previous Rank: 13) 
  12. Stanford (Previous Rank: 8) 
  13. Tennessee (Previous Rank: 16) 
  14. Penn State (Previous Rank: 9) 
  15. Minnesota (Previous Rank: 14) 
  16. Texas A&M (Previous Rank: 15) 
  17. Baylor (Previous Rank: 18) 
  18. Indiana (Previous Rank: 21) 
  19. Kansas (Previous Rank: 22) 
  20. Oregon (Previous Rank: 23) 
  21. Colorado (Previous Rank: 17) 
  22. BYU (Previous Rank: 24) 
  23. Southern Cal (Previous Rank: 19) 
  24. North Carolina (Previous Rank: 25) 
  25. Creighton (Previous Rank: 20) 

Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 74; UCLA 61; Kansas State 49; Michigan State 44; Georgia Tech 37; Washington 11; Colorado State 7; Ball State 3 

Kentucky Wildcats 

The Wildcats take the lead over Louisville in the poll after downing them in four sets.

Brooklyn DeLey’s 22 kills and Morgan Gaerte’s 20 marked the first time this season that Kentucky placed two players in the 20+ kill range in the same match. Kassie O’Brien set a season-high 59 assists

Florida Gators

The Gators move up two spots in the ranking after defeating in-state rivals Florida State in four sets.

Logan King tallied a career-high seven blocks, while matching career highs with a solo block and six block assists. She added seven digs to become the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. 

The win over FSU officially gave the Gators their best start since opening 9-1 in 2023. 

TCU Horned Frogs 

TCU is another program climbing the rankings after sweeping both Yale and Rice at the Fight in the Fort Invitational.

Evan Hendrix led the team with 33 kills and recorded double-doubles in both matches. Kinsley Young totaled 23 kills, including a career-high 16 against Rice. 

Tennessee Lady Vols 

The Lady Vols collected their biggest win of the season when they stunned Penn State in four sets. The win became Tennessee’s first over a top-10 opponent since defeating No. 9 Baylor on Sept. 9, 2021, and its first top-10 win on the road since besting No. 6 Florida on Sept. 25, 2011. 

Kennedi Rogers tied her career-high with 21 kills and added 10 digs for her third double-double of the year. Caroline Kerr added 42 assists and 13 digs. 

Creighton Bluejays 

The Bluejays are dangerously close to falling out of the rankings. At No. 20 a week ago, the Bluejays dropped down after taking losses to Nebraska, unbeaten Kansas State and Texas A&M. 

Published |Modified
Nicole Reitz
NICOLE REITZ

Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018. Her work has been published in various publications like Softball On SI, Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th.

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