Penn State women’s volleyball is back at the top in the latest AVCA Poll after nearly two years since it last earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation.
The Nittany Lions were most recently No. 1 in November of 2015. They also earned the preseason top spot that season after claiming back-to-back national titles, but dropped three of their last five games down the stretch of the 2015 regular season and fell in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 to Hawaii.
This year, Penn State has been in the top three for every poll release since the second week of this season. After top-ranked Florida lost its first match on Sunday, Russ Rose’s 17-1 squad made the move to No. 1.
The Nittany Lions are also No. 1 in the RPI and have racked up three wins against current top 10 teams, including a pair of wins against No. 2 Stanford. The squad’s lone loss this year came against Nebraska. Penn State and the Cornhuskers are tied at the top of the Big Ten standings with 7-1 conference records.
It’s going to be a tough road ahead for the Nittany Lions. They face three ranked teams in the next five contests, including matches against No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 10 Michigan State. The lone home matchup during that stretch will be against the Badgers on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
