IThe Minnesota volleyball team (21-3, 10-2) dropped to No. 5 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll tabulated by the AVCA, which was released on Monday, Nov. 1. Minnesota had 1,316 points in the poll.

It marked the 11th straight week Minnesota has been in the top five. The Golden Gophers are the only team in the nation to have remained in the top five for all 10 weeks of this year's poll. Minnesota's streak in the top five dates back to last year's final No. 4 ranking.

This past week the Golden Gophers split a pair of matches this week, winning in three games at Northwestern and losing in five games at Wisconsin. Minnesota's three-game victory over the Wildcats gave the Golden Gophers a streak of 13 straight games won on the road, spanning five matches (Penn State, Iowa, Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern). Minnesota's loss to Wisconsin snapped an eight match winning streak, and a five-match winning streak over the Badgers that dated back to 2002.

Minnesota is off to a 10-2 or better Big Ten start for the sixth time in school history. The Golden Gophers' other 10-2 or better starts came in 1989 (10-2), 1999 (10-2), 2000 (10-2), 2002 (11-1), 2003 (10-2) and this year. Minnesota finished in second place in the Big Ten in 1989, 1999, 2000, 2003, and won the Big Ten title in 2002.

The Golden Gophers join three other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 this week. Joining the Golden Gophers in the top 10 are No. 6 Penn State and No. 7 Ohio State. Illinois is also ranked No. 25. Wisconsin is also the top team receiving votes this week. The Big Ten is the only conference in the nation to have three teams in the top 10.

Washington was the No. 1 team for a fifth week in a row. Minnesota and USC are the only other teams to be ranked No. 1 this season. The Golden Gophers were No. 1 on Sept. 13-27, while USC was No. 1 for the first two weeks of the season.

Minnesota will host No. 6 Penn State on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will also host No. 7 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2004 Record Last Week 1 Washington (63) 1,623 19-0 1 2 Hawai'i (2) 1,530 20-0 3 3 Nebraska 1,502 19-1 4 4 Southern California 1,402 14-3 5 5 Minnesota 1,316 21-3 2 6 Penn State 1,287 19-2 6 7 Ohio State 1,280 21-1 7 8 Florida 1,184 20-2 8 9 Colorado State 1,064 20-2 9 10 Texas 1,061 19-2 10 11 California 917 12-7 13 12 Stanford 819 15-6 11 13 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 795 19-2 14 14 Texas A&M 731 14-5 15 15 Tennessee 613 21-2 16 16 UCLA 576 14-7 12 17 Utah 575 18-3 17 18 Kansas State 488 14-7 18 19 UC Santa Barbara 434 16-3 20 20 Santa Clara 432 16-4 19 21 San Diego 340 16-4 22 22-t Louisville 262 20-2 23 22-t Arizona 262 13-8 24 24 Florida A&M 152 20-2 25 25 Illinois 136 15-6 21 Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Wisconsin 99, Rice 76, Ohio 57, Georgia Tech 40, Missouri 30, Long Beach State 18, Notre Dame 6, UC Irvine 5, Loyola Marymount 5, Pacific 5