EUGENE - Jumping another six positions in this week’s AVCA national poll, the No. 2 University of Oregon volleyball team (11-0, 2-0) moved up six spots in Monday's fifth AVCA poll of the season.
UO has now jumped a whopping 18 positions since its No. 20 preseason polling in early August, and this week’s season high ranking was four better than its all-time best (sixth) from four years ago on October 13.
The Ducks were one of five Pac-12 schools spotted in the top seven overall this week with returning national champion and No. 3 USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Washington and No. 7 Stanford.
Among those rankings, Stanford improved a position; USC and UCLA dropped one and three spots, respectively; Washington remained the same; and Oregon State and California received votes.
One other Duck foe stood top 25 – No. 22 Ohio State – and Kentucky and St. Mary’s have picked up votes in previous editions.
For comparison’s sake, last week’s Pac-12 rankings follow: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, No. 5 Washington and No. 6 Stanford
Overall during head coach Jim Moore’s eight-year tenure, Oregon has now been ranked top 25 for 80 editions (2012-6; 2011-14; ’10-13; ’09-16; ’08-16; ’07-13; ’06-2), including 44 in the top 15, and all 17 of the team’s ever top-10 honors.
Among other news among top five teams, No. 1 Penn State climbed three spots Monday after it beat then-No. 3 Nebraska and Iowa by 3-1 counts in State College.
The complete poll follows is linked at the right side, and is also available at the AVCA website at the http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/polls/ URL address.
In this week’s other national polls, UO stood #1 in the Pablo Rankings, #2 in the ESPN Power Rankings, and #2 in the Volleyball Magazine Poll.
Last week, UO swept both the returning conference champion and No. 2
Trojans and No. 26 Beavers to open Pac-12 play. On Friday, Oregon ended a
21-match losing streak in Troy, and two days before claimed its 11th
win vs. the Beavers in the last 13 Civil War meetings.
The Duck
offense instrumental in both wins and combined on .357 and .368 hitting
marks vs. the Trojans and Beavers. Both marks were the teams’ opponent season highs
(and easily bettered the next-best respective marks of .297 and .305 by
returning national champion and then-No. 1 UCLA last week).
Earlier this season, Oregon’s No. 20 preseason pick in the AVCA Coaches Poll was its fourth top-20 preseason pick the last five years – an accomplishment the program had notched only twice before current head coach Jim Moore’s arrival (1985 - 15th / 1990 - 20th).
The eighth-year mentor and his squad also picked up a No. 11 preseason nod in 2008, and No. 14 and No. 20 selections in 2009 and ’10, respectively.
The only missing year in that span – 2011 – saw Oregon upset then-four-time defending national champion Penn State two weeks later, and end its NCAA-record 94-match home win streak.
Among other related poll notes, UO was picked a best-ever fourth in the Pac-12 Coaches Preseason Poll behind UCLA (first), Stanford (second) and USC (third), and ahead of Washington (fifth), California (sixth) and Arizona (seventh).
Looking ahead to this weekend, Oregon welcomes Utah and Colorado to
Matthew Knight Arena for matches on Friday, September 28 at 8 p.m. and
Saturday, September 29 at 7 p.m., respectively.
Friday’s match will be televised by the Pac-12 Network regionally, and
promotions-wise is a Yellow Out-Fan Appreciation Night. Spectators that
wear yellow a Duck spirit tee can receive a G.A. ticket for only $3 at
the door. Against the Utes, season ticket holders can also bring two
friends with them to get discounted $2 general admission tickets for
each guest.
Fans for Friday's Utah tilt can also bring their Arizona football game ticket stub from last Saturday and receive a $1 G.A. ticket at the door.
Against the Buffaloes, kids can get a $1 ticket with a regular-priced adult ticket. The match also offers a Game Show Night theme, and special promotions will be held for fans during the match.
AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll
Week #5: September 24, 2012
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2012 Record Previous Week
Rk School (1st Pl.) Points W-L Prev
1 Penn State (34) 1447 12-1 4
> 2 Oregon (16) 1370 11-0 8
*3 USC (3) 1363 13-1 2
*4 UCLA (3) 1314 9-2 1
*5 Washington (3) 1288 11-0 5
6 Nebraska 1248 9-2 3
*7 Stanford (1) 1177 10-2 6
8 Hawai’i 1049 10-2 7
9 Texas 1023 9-3 9
10 Minnesota 943 11-2 12
11 BYU 850 14-0 16
12 Florida 791 9-2 13
13 Purdue 689 11-2 17
14 Florida State 681 10-2 15
15 Kansas State 656 13-1 11
16 San Diego 617 10-2 18
17 Louisville 595 12-2 10
18 Pepperdine 554 10-4 14
19 Iowa State 391 7-4 19
20 Dayton 305 10-4 22
21 Illinois 272 7-5 20
*22 Ohio State 223 10-4 23
23 W. Kentucky 188 16-3 24
24 Michigan State 112 13-1 25
25 Tennessee 94 9-4 21
Others Receiving Votes (and appearing on two or more ballots): Oklahoma 54; *Oregon State 43; Kansas 23; Michigan 22; Miami (FL) 16; North Carolina 15; Texas A&M 15; Creighton 14; Arkansas 9; *California 7; Notre Dame 7; Marquette 6
NOTE: A complete listing of the Ducks' string of top-25 rankings under Moore follows: *2012: Preseason – 20th; 8/27 – 17th; 9/4 -13th; 9/10 – 9th; 9/17 – 8th; 9/23 – 2nd. 2011 (13 weeks): 8/29 – 16th; 9/5 – 16th; 9/12 – 16th; 9/19 – 15th; 9/26 – 15th; 10/3 – 15th; 10/10 – 16th; 10/17 – 18th; 10/24 – 16th; 10/31 – 20th; 11/7 – 20th; 11/14 - 15th; 11/21 – 13th; 12/20 – 24th. *2010 (13): Preseason – 20th, 8/30 – 18th; 9/6 – 19th; 9/13 – 16th; 9/20 – 15th; 9/27 – 11th; 10/4 – 13th; 10/11 – 17th; 10/18 – 16th; 10/25 – 18th; 11/1 – 20th; 11/15 – 23rd; 11/22 – 24th. *2009 (16): Preseason - 14th, 8/31 - 14th, 9/7 - 12th, 9/14 - 14th; 9/21 - 7th; 9/28 – 7th; 10/5 – 11th; 10/12 - 15th; 10/19 – 12th; 10/26 – 15th; 11/2 – 14th; 11/9 – 16th; 11/16 – 18th; 11/23 – 18th; 11/30 – 17th; 12/22 – 18th. *2008 (16): 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 (13): 9/18 24th; 9/25 21st; 10/1 – 19th; 10/8 – 19th; 10/15 – 19th; 10/22 – 19th; 10/29 - 19th; 11/5 – 20th; 11/12 - 14th; 11/19 - 13th; 11/26 - 13th; 12/3 - ninth; 12/10 - ninth. *2006 (2): 10/30 24th; 11/6 24th
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