Volleyball Moves Up to No. 20 in USA Today/AVCA Poll - GOPHERSPORTS.COM - The Official Athletic Site of the Minnesota Gophers

Volleyball Moves Up to No. 20 in USA Today/AVCA Poll
The Minnesota volleyball team moved up three spots in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll to No. 20 on Monday, Nov. 3. The Golden Gophers received 443 points in this week's poll. Minnesota finished a

The Minnesota volleyball team moved up three spots in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll to No. 20 on Monday, Nov. 3. The Golden Gophers received 443 points in this week's poll.

Minnesota finished a four-match Big Ten home stand at 4-0, with a win over Iowa in three games and a four-game victory over No. 20 Wisconsin last week. Those victories moved the Golden Gophers' Big Ten winning streak to 10 matches. That streak is their second-longest conference winning streak in school history. Last season's team won 11 straight Big Ten matches to set the school record.

Minnesota currently sits in first place with a 10-2 Big Ten record. Penn State and Wisconsin are one match behind the Golden Gophers in a tie for second place at 9-3. Minnesota swept the season series from Wisconsin for a second year in a row on Oct. 31, and defeated Penn State in the first meeting of the season on the road on Oct. 18.

Minnesota is one of three Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25. That list includes No. 16 Penn State and No. 22 Wisconsin. Michigan State is third in receiving votes with 44 points, while Illinois is sixth at 35 points.

The Golden Gophers have now been in the top 25 for 24 of the last 27 weeks of the poll.

Minnesota will travel to Illinois on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will wrap up the two-match road swing at Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points * 2003 Record Last Week 1 USC (65) 1,625 22-0 1 2 Hawai'i 1,550 24-1 2 3 Florida 1,503 24-1 3 4 Pepperdine 1,421 19-2 5 5 Kansas State 1,289 22-3 7 6 UCLA 1,263 19-4 8 7 Georgia Tech 1,238 23-1 4 8 Stanford 1,173 17-5 9 9 California 1,169 19-3 6 10 Nebraska 996 20-3 11 11 Washington 964 15-7 10 12 Notre Dame 831 19-2 14 13 Northern Iowa 715 20-4 12 14 Santa Clara 713 16-8 15 15 Colorado State 634 20-4 16 16 Penn State 608 20-4 17 17 Loyola Marymount 605 22-4 13 18 San Diego 457 17-6 18 19 UC Santa Barbara 446 15-6 19 20 Minnesota 443 17-7 23 21 Texas A&M 393 17-5 21 22 Wisconsin 282 17-6 20 23 Louisville 247 15-4 22 24 Cincinnati 130 23-2 NR 25 Missouri 73 16-6 24 Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Southwest Missouri State 58, Maryland 45, Michigan State 44, Ohio 38, Florida A&M 35, Illinois 35, Arkansas 26, University of San Francisco 22, Arizona 16, Long Beach State 9.