1The Minnesota volleyball team (13-1, 2-0) remained No. 1 for a third week in a row in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll tabulated by the AVCA, which was released on Monday, Sept. 27. Minnesota received 1,587 points and 40 first- place votes to claim the top ranking in the nation, to be ranked ahead of No. 2 Washington who received 1,573 points and 23 first place votes.

Minnesota won home matches against Cincinnati, Michigan State and Michigan in three games this past week. Washington jumped up to second in the nation with road wins against No. 3 USC and No. 10 UCLA last week. The two teams share the link of having played in last year's Regional Final for a Final Four berth. Minnesota won that match in five games to advance to the 2003 Final Four.

The Golden Gophers enter the week having won 17 games (in its last six matches) in a row. Minnesota claimed the last two games against Rice on Sept. 17, and has won three-game matches against Loyola Marymount, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Michigan State and Michigan.

Minnesota joins three other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 this week. Minnesota will travel to play two of those teams this week in No. 16 Ohio State (Oct. 1) and No. 4 Penn State (Oct. 2). The Golden Gophers' match with Penn State will be the highest ranked match in Big Ten history with Minnesota at No. 1 and the Nittany Lions at No. 4. Illinois is also ranked in the Top-25 at No. 19.

Minnesota becomes only the 13th team to be ranked No. 1 for three weeks or more in the top 25. Only 14 teams have been ranked No. 1 since 1982 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll. Cal Poly was only ranked No. 1 for one week. The Golden Gophers move into their third week of being the top-ranked team in the nation.

Minnesota has now been ranked in the top five for six straight weeks dating back to last year's final No. 4 ranking.

The Golden Gophers have won 12 straight matches heading into the week after claiming the Wyoming Tournament (Sept. 3-4), the Diet Coke Classic (Sept. 10-11), the North Carolina Tournament (Sept. 17-18) and three matches last week against Cincinnati, Michigan State and Michigan. The 12- match winning streak is the fourth-longest in school history.

Minnesota's 13-1 start is also the third-best 14-match start in school history.

The Golden Gophers will play No. 16 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. (CT). That match will be telecast on a tape-delayed basis on Fox Sports Net North on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. Minnesota will also travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. (CT).

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points Record Last Week 1 Minnesota (40) 1,587 13-1 1 2 Washington (23) 1,573 10-0 3 3 Southern California 1,435 6-2 2 4 Penn State (2) 1,417 11-0 4 5 Florida 1,347 10-1 5 6 Hawai'i 1,330 10-0 6 7 Nebraska 1,262 9-1 7 8 UC Santa Barbara 1,159 8-0 8 9 Colorado State 1,129 10-1 9 10 UCLA 1,010 8-3 10 11 Stanford 994 9-2 12 12 California 843 7-3 16 13 Santa Clara 651 8-2 17 14 Texas A&M 611 6-4 11 15 Kansas State 604 8-4 19 16 Ohio State 602 12-0 20 17 Arizona 588 8-4 14 18 Texas 568 11-0 22 19 Illinois 476 9-2 13 20 Tennessee 403 12-1 24 21 Louisville 359 9-2 15 22 Utah 310 8-2 23 23 Long Beach State 236 10-1 18 24 Kansas 210 10-2 21 25 Colorado 84 7-4 25 Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Florida A&M 74, Saint Mary's (Calif.) 67, Ohio 54, Michigan 41, Rice 40, Purdue 21, Pepperdine 14, San Diego 7, Pacific 4, Western Kentucky 4.