LINCOLN — Nebraska’s first home loss in volleyball since September 2004 has resulted in the Huskers’ lowest poll position since that same month.

NU fell three spots to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll released Monday. The slide came one day after the Huskers dropped a five-set match to UCLA in front of 13,870 fans at the Devaney Center.

The No. 8 ranking matches Nebraska’s spot in the poll five years ago following its four-set loss in Lincoln to Florida A&M. Following that defeat, the Huskers went on to win an NCAA-record 90 straight home matches, a streak that ended Sunday.

No. 1 Penn State and second-ranked Texas retained the top spots in the ratings. Washington stayed at No. 3, Hawaii moved up two spots to No. 4 and Florida dropped one position to No. 5.

With its victory in Lincoln, UCLA moved up a spot to No. 7.

Other teams in the new Top 10 are No. 6 Michigan, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 10 Iowa State — the highest ranking in school history for the Cyclones.

Undefeated Top 10 teams are defending NCAA champion Penn State (9-0), Texas (5-0), Washington (8-0) and Michigan (10-0). Among other unbeaten squads are No. 16 Kentucky, 10-0 under former NU assistant Craig Skinner, and 11-0 Baylor, at No. 24 for its first ranking since 2000.

Nebraska (7-2) hasn’t had multiple losses this early in the season since 1999. The Huskers also are 1-2 against ranked teams, with a win over Minnesota and losses to Michigan and UCLA.

NU coach John Cook has tried to preach patience during a season in which the Huskers have only one senior, Kori Cooper. The middle blocker hasn’t played in the past four matches as she continues to recover from her offseason knee surgeries.

The Huskers were 2-0 in five-set matches before Sunday, but they looked out of sync in the decisive set.

“That’s what was so disappointing, because we became a very undisciplined team (in set five),” Cook said. “But that’s something we can fix and work on.

“It just takes time. Last year’s team had three seniors who played for two national championships and won a national championship. Those kids had a lot of experience and composure, and we just haven’t found that yet. We’re getting better, but we didn’t have it when we needed it (against UCLA).”

Nebraska opens its Big 12 schedule on Wednesday at 7 p.m. with a home match against Texas Tech. The game will be shown on Nebraska Educational Television’s NET1 network (Cox Channel 12 in the Omaha area). Nebraska will travel to Colorado on Saturday for an 8 p.m. CDT contest.

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

« Sports - Big Red Today

Share