Wisconsin Volleyball moves up one place

The University of Wisconsin volleyball team posted a .500 average for the first time this season, but barely improved in this week's rankings.

The Badgers defeated Milwaukee in their home opener on Tuesday to move up one spot to seventh in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings. Wisconsin began the season ranked third and slipped to sixth after losses to Louisville and Texas.

They followed that with a loss to Stanford before picking up wins over TCU and Baylor in the Bears-hosted Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. Still, the Badgers slipped to eighth place after a 2-1 week as the challenge of their nonconference schedule ended with a 2-3 mark.

Those losses in the latest rankings came against No. 2 Stanford (7-0), No. 4 Louisville (7-1) and No. 8 Texas (3-3), which was four points behind the Badgers, while Wisconsin recorded wins over No. 20 Baylor (7-2) and No. 23 TCU (5-2). Milwaukee received no votes.

The Kohl Center Classic returns Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the Badgers host Marquette (3-3), the first unranked team. The Golden Eagles were swept by Stanford and lost to No. 10 Kansas in four sets. Their latest win, however, was the first loss for No. 24 Dayton on a neutral court in Western Kentucky.

There was no change in the top 5. Pittsburgh (6-0) led the rankings, followed by Stanford, Penn State, Louisville and Nebraska.

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Seven teams were ranked in the Big Ten this week. Penn State received three first-place votes and was ranked third after an 8-0 start. Nebraska (8-1) finished fifth and received one first-place vote, followed by Purdue (8-0) and Wisconsin. League newcomer Oregon (6-1) was ranked 12th, Minnesota (4-3) was ranked 17th and Southern Cal (5-2) was ranked 21st.

Here are the full rankings.

AVCA rankings released on September 16

Rank	Team (votes for first place)	Points	Record	Last week
1	Pittsburgh (33)	1,495	6:0	1
2	Stanford (24)	1,476	7:0	2
3	State of Pennsylvania (3)	1,390	8:0	3
4	Louisville	1,311	7-1	4
5	Nebraska- (1)	1,290	8-1	5
6	Purdue	1,194	8:0	7
7	Wisconsin	1,090	3-3	8
8	Texas	1,086	3-3	6
9	Creighton	1,032	7-2	9
10	Kansas	929	7:0	11
11	Kentucky	925	6-3	10
12	Oregon	880	6-1	12
13	Georgia Tech Institute	756	7-1	15
14	State of Arizona	637	8-1	14
15	Tennessee	620	5-2	16
16	Florida	529	6-2	13
17	Minnesota	523	4-3	19
18	State of Florida	412	7-1	21
19	BYU	355	4-3	17
20	Baylor	346	7-2	18
21	Southern California	301	5-2	23
22	SMU	287	6-3	26
23	TCU	260	5-2	25
24	Dayton	154	7-1	24
25	Arkansas	144	8-1	22

Other persons who received votes and are listed on two or more ballots: Marquette 77; Washington 73; Auburn 69; Miami (Florida) 66; UCLA 50; Arkansas State 22; Georgia 14; Houston 7; Hawaii 5; San Diego 5; Wright State 2.