1,4The Minnesota volleyball team (16-2, 5-1) moved up one spot to No. 2 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll tabulated by the AVCA, which was released on Monday, Oct. 11. Minnesota gained 30 points with 1,496 points for the week.

Washington was the No. 1 team for a second week in a row. Minnesota's three-weeks at No. 1 (Sept. 13-27) were the most by any team so far this season. USC was No. 1 for the first two weeks of the season, while Washington has held the spot the last two weeks.

Minnesota and Washington have both made their first appearances in school history at No. 1 this year. Both teams are two of only 15 teams to be ranked No. 1 since the poll started in 1982.

The Golden Gophers swept a pair of three-game matches from Wisconsin and Northwestern this past weekend. Minnesota's three-game sweep over Wisconsin was its first over the Badgers since Nov. 6, 1996. The Golden Gophers win over Northwestern was their 21st in the last 22 meetings against the Wildcats.

Since last year's final poll, Minnesota has occupied every spot in the top five. The Golden Gophers finished No. 4 in last year's final poll. Minnesota started out at No. 5 in the first two weeks of the polls this season, and moved to No. 1 from Sept. 13-27. Last week, the Golden Gophers held the No. 3 ranking, and this week they are No. 2.

Minnesota joins three other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 this week. Joining the Golden Gophers in the top 10 are No. 5 Penn State and No. 8 Ohio State. Illinois is also ranked No. 23. The Big Ten is the only conference in the nation to have two teams in the top five and three teams in the top 10.

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

Minnesota will head to Iowa for a midweek match on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 7 pm. The Golden Gophers will then host No. 23 Illinois at Williams Arena on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 pm. In that match, Minnesota will attempt to break its attendance record of 6,046. That match will also be telecast on Fox Sports Net North on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2004 Record Last Wk 1 Washington (63) 1,623 13-0 1 2 Minnesota 1,496 16-2 3 3 Hawai'i (2) 1,475 14-0 4 4 Nebraska 1,411 13-1 5 5 Penn State 1,324 14-1 6 6 Southern California 1,288 9-3 2 7 Colorado State 1,219 13-1 7 8 Ohio State 1,208 16-0 9 9 Texas 1,111 15-0 11 10 Florida 1,102 14-2 8 11 UCLA 923 11-4 10 12 Stanford 870 11-4 14 13 California 761 8-6 17 14 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 661 15-1 19 15 Santa Clara 634 11-3 12 16 Kansas State 621 11-5 16 17 Tennessee 602 16-1 18 18 Utah 498 13-2 20 19 UC Santa Barbara 434 10-3 13 20 Texas A&M 379 8-5 15 21 Louisville 311 14-2 22 22 Arizona 282 10-6 21 23 Illinois 199 12-3 24 24 Florida A&M 169 10-2 25 25 San Diego 84 10-4 NR Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Rice 79, Missouri 69, Ohio 68, Pacific 65, Long Beach State 64, Georgia Tech 20, Michigan 17, UC Irvine 16, Colorado 14, Loyola Marymount 14, Wichita State 13.