rankinThe Minnesota volleyball team (14-2, 3-1) dropped two spots to No. 3 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll tabulated by the AVCA, which was released on Monday, Oct. 4. Minnesota, who held the No. 1 ranking for the past three weeks, received 1,466 points and one first-place vote.

Washington was the No. 1 team in this week's poll, joining Minnesota as one of two new No. 1 teams in the polls this year. The Golden Gophers and Huskies are two of only 15 teams to be named No. 1 since the polls began in 1982.

Minnesota split a pair of matches this past week, losing in four games at Ohio State and winning at Penn State for a second year in a row. The Golden Gophers' five-game victory at Penn State marked the first time since 1994-95 that a Big Ten team won in back-to-back seasons at Penn State. Minnesota won in three games at Penn State in 2003.

The Golden Gophers joins three other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 this week. Joining Minnesota in the top 10 are No. 6 Penn State and No. 9 Ohio State. It marks the second week this season, that the Big Ten has had three teams in the top 10. Illinois is also ranked No. 24, while Michigan, Purdue and Wisconsin are all receiving votes.

Minnesota became only the 13th team in the poll's history to be ranked No. 1 for three weeks or more.

The Golden Gophers have been ranked in the top five for seven straight weeks dating back to last year's final No. 4 ranking.

Minnesota will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. when it plays Wisconsin. That match will be telecast live on Fox Sports Net North. The Golden Gophers will also host Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2004 Record Last Week 1 Washington (61) 1,620 12-0 2 2 Southern California (1) 1,509 8-2 3 3 Minnesota (1) 1,466 14-2 1 4 Hawai'i (2) 1,403 12-0 6 5 Nebraska 1,342 10-1 7 6 Penn State 1,335 12-1 4 7 Colorado State 1,157 12-1 9 8 Florida 1,125 12-2 5 9 Ohio State 1,091 14-0 16 10 UCLA 1,059 10-3 10 11 Texas 944 13-0 18 12 Santa Clara 888 11-2 13 13 UC Santa Barbara 884 9-1 8 14 Stanford 742 10-3 11 15 Texas A&M 634 8-4 14 16 Kansas State 616 10-4 15 17 California 534 7-5 12 18 Tennessee 500 14-1 20 19 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 414 13-1 NR 20 Utah 358 11-2 22 21 Arizona 330 8-6 17 22 Louisville 327 11-2 21 23 Long Beach State 242 12-1 23 24 Illinois 182 10-3 19 25 Florida A&M 85 8-2 NR Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Michigan 80, Pacific 77, Ohio 52, Rice 51, Missouri 14, San Diego 11, Western Kentucky 9, Georgia Tech 8, Kansas 8, Colorado 7, Purdue 6, Wisconsin 6, Illinois State 3, Wichita State 3, UC Irvine 2.