poThe Minnesota volleyball team remained No. 5 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll, conducted by the AVCA, for the week of Sept. 6. Minnesota received 1,376 points in the poll, up 58 from the preseason poll.

It marks the third straight week dating back to last year's final poll that the Golden Gophers have been in the top five of the poll. This is also the fourth week that Minnesota has been ranked in the top five in the program's history.

Minnesota is ranked No. 5 on the strength of 4-1 start in which it finished second at NACWAA Classic and first at the Wyoming Tournament. The Golden Gophers started the season by defeating No. 11 Colorado State in four games, and took No. 1 USC to five games in the NACWAA Classic Finals. The Golden Gophers narrowly missed snapping the Women of Troy's NCAA Division I record-setting winning streak, which is now up to 51 matches. Minnesota was the only team during the streak to lead USC 2-1, and forced the Women of Troy to five games for only the second time during the streak.

This past weekend, the Golden Gophers went 3-0 and won the Wyoming Tournament in a field that included Idaho State, Texas-San Antonio and Wyoming. In the tournament, Minnesota had 18.67 kpg to just 10.11 for its opponents. The Golden Gophers also outhit their three opponents .329 to .088. Erin Martin (Ames, Iowa) was named the tournament's MVP, while Jessica Byrnes (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) were named to the All- Tournament team.

Minnesota is the highest ranked squad of five Big Ten teams at No. 5. Penn State is No. 7, Illinois is No. 16, Purdue is No. 24 and Wisconsin is No. 25. Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are all receiving votes.

The Golden Gophers will host the Diet Coke Classic from Sept. 9-12. Minnesota opens against No. 15 Kansas State on Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will then play No. 4 Florida on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. That match will be broadcast on CSTV on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. Minnesota will wrap up the tournament against Northern Iowa, who is receiving votes in the poll, on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 1 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2004 Record Last Week 1 USC (62) 1,620 4-0 1 2 Nebraska (3) 1,517 2-0 2 3 UCLA 1,466 4-0 3 4 Florida 1,409 4-0 4 5 Minnesota 1,376 4-1 5 6 Washington 1,250 3-0 7 7 Penn State 1,236 3-0 8 8 California 1,162 3-0 10 9 Pepperdine 1,109 1-1 9 10 Colorado State 1,001 2-1 11 11 Hawai'i 930 3-0 13 12 Stanford 900 2-1 6 13 UC Santa Barbara 777 3-0 16 14 Texas A&M 702 2-1 15 15 Kansas State 698 3-1 14 16 Illinois 609 3-0 19 17 Santa Clara 463 3-0 22 18 Louisville 442 3-0 20 19 Arizona 332 2-2 17 20 San Diego 294 2-1 NR 21 Georgia Tech 199 0-4 12 22 Loyola Marymount 188 2-1 18 23 Long Beach State 172 3-0 NR 24 Purdue 161 3-0 NR 25 Wisconsin 139 1-1 23 Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Notre Dame 122, Missouri 96, Tennessee 96, Cincinnati 85, Saint Mary's (Calif.) 83, Northern Iowa 75, Kansas 69, Michigan State 58, Utah 55, Ohio State 50, Texas 39, UC Irvine 37, Brigham Young 36, Michigan 32, Wichita State 11, Ohio 10, Clemson 6.