polThe Minnesota volleyball team (26-4, 15-3) remained at No. 5 in the USA Today/CSTV Top-25 poll tabulated by the AVCA, which was released on Monday, Nov. 22. Minnesota tallied 1,335 points in the poll.

It marked the 14th 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 13 weeks of this year's poll. Minnesota's streak in the top five dates back to last year's final No. 4 ranking.

Minnesota also tied a school record for most consecutive weeks in the top 10 with 14, matching its record set from Sept. 4-Dec. 4, 2000.

This past week, Minnesota had a pair of three-game victories at home against Purdue and Indiana. In the Indiana match, Paula Gentil (Forteleza Ceara', Brazil) broke the Big Ten career digs record.

With two conference matches remaining in Big Ten play, Minnesota and Ohio State are tied for second place in the Big Ten at 15-3. Penn State is in first place by one match at 16-2 in Big Ten play.

The Golden Gophers join two other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 this week. Joining Minnesota in the top 10 is No. 4 Penn State and No. 8 Ohio State. Wisconsin and Illinois are each receiving votes this season. The Big Ten is the only conference in the nation to have two teams in the top five.

Hawai'i moved into No. 1 this week, breaking a streak of seven straight weeks that Washington occupied that spot. 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.

It marks the first time since 1985 that four or more teams have been ranked No. 1 in a single season. Four teams have been ranked No. 1 2004, 1984 and 1983. In 1985, there were five teams ranked No. 1 during the course of the year.

Minnesota will wrap up its home season on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. against Iowa at the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers will then play their final Big Ten match of the season at Illinois of Friday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points * 2004 Record Last Week 1 Hawai'i (37) 1,570 26-0 2 2 Nebraska (23) 1,559 25-1 3 3 Washington (5) 1,505 23-1 1 4 Penn State 1,450 25-2 4 5 Minnesota 1,335 26-4 5 6 Southern California 1,285 18-4 6 7 Stanford 1,210 21-6 9 8 Ohio State 1,172 25-3 7 9 Colorado State 1,120 25-3 8 10 Tennessee 997 29-2 12 11 Texas 963 23-3 11 12 Florida 860 25-4 10 13 San Diego 773 21-4 15 14 California 714 15-10 14 15 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 660 23-3 16 16 UCLA 627 17-9 17 17 UC Santa Barbara 589 23-3 18 18 Texas A&M 579 17-7 13 19 Utah 416 23-5 19 20 Louisville 396 26-2 21 21 Arizona 300 17-9 22 22 Florida A&M 243 26-2 24 23 Kansas State 228 18-9 20 24 Missouri 172 18-7 25 25 Santa Clara 117 18-7 23 Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Ohio 103, Rice 32, Georgia Tech 31, Wisconsin 28, Long Beach State 25, Wichita State 23, Illinois 12, Loyola Marymount 11