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AVCA Rankings Week 7: Vanderbilt Debuts for First Time in Program History

The Commodores make their first-ever appearance in the AVCA Division I Rankings as the Week 7 poll highlights the nation's top teams.
Nicole Reitz|
Vanderbilt grabbed the biggest win in program history with an upset of then-No. 5 Florida.
Vanderbilt grabbed the biggest win in program history with an upset of then-No. 5 Florida. | Vanderbilt Athletics

Postseason will be here before you know it, and the AVCA Rankings are beginning to reflect who may be the strongest contender going forward. 

Nebraska remains the only team undefeated after Pitt dropped in a four-set match to SMU, marking the Panthers’ first home loss in 58 matches. They got revenge in Dallas, though, on Sunday after turning around to sweep the Mustangs. 

Oklahoma upset Texas A&M and then went on to sweep Texas, while Vanderbilt grabbed the biggest win in program history with an upset of then-No. 5 Florida. North Carolina has also moved up from the No. 25 spot, and Arizona State has made it to the Top 10. 

Here’s a look at this week’s AVCA Top 25 Rankings and what programs are making waves as conference play heats up. 

AVCA Top 25 Rankings 

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

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Illinois 114; Utah 76; Baylor 62; Oklahoma 36; Creighton 31; UCLA 22; Southern California 16; Colorado State 15; Georgia Tech 7

Vanderbilt Commodores

For the first time in program history, the Commodores earned a spot in the Top 25 after grabbing the 3-1 win over then- No.5 Florida to earn the first top-five win and second-ranked win in program history. The team finished the outing hitting .252 while posting 52 kills, 53 digs, and 11 blocks. 

Samantha Wunsch recorded a team-high 15 kills, while Kayla Dunlap added 11 for a .529 hitting percentage. Avery Scoggins put up 44 assists to lead the team to a total of 50 assists on 52 kills. 

Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies drop significantly in the polls after being stunned in five sets by Oklahoma, then by Arkansas in four sets.

The winning streak was snapped at six after the loss to the Sooners, in which Kyndal Stowers led the offense with 20 kills and a hitting percentage of .381.  Taryn Morris and Megan Fitch also hit double-digit kills, finishing with 11 and 10, respectively, but it wasn’t enough to hang on. 

Arizona State Sun Devils 

Two Top 25 wins move the Sun Devils up the polls. The sweep over then-No.8 TCU became the third top-10 win of the year, sixth top-25 win this season, and 22nd overall ranked win under head coach JJ Van Niel. The win snapped TCU’s 12-match winning streak, which was the second-longest in the nation. 

The Sun Devils took down then-No. 23 Colorado earlier in the week, holding the Buffaloes to a .056 hitting percentage. It marked the fifth time this season the Sun Devils have held a team to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.

SMU Mustangs 

The biggest win of the season so far may have been when the Mustangs downed the undefeated Pitt in four sets. They rallied back after dropping the first set to win the next three, including a 38-36 third-set marathon. It snapped Pitt’s 58-match home winning streak, but the Panthers came back for revenge immediately on Sunday. The three-set loss to Pitt marked the first time SMU has fallen in ACC play this season. 

Wisconsin Badgers 

The Badgers fell to the undefeated Nebraska, but they are knocking on the door of the Top 5. They have taken down all Big Ten opponents except for the Cornhuskers, including a five-set thriller against Indiana to start October. The most recent win came in a sweep of Illinois, where freshman Audrey Flanagan led with 12 kills on a .417 hitting percentage, adding four digs and two blocks. Jaela Auguste and Eva Travis added nine kills each. 

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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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