Texas volleyball reaches top-5, Georgia Tech and Tennessee join new Power 10

As women’s volleyball squads round out their conference schedules — and a week removed from the DI Committee’s second in-season poll — here’s where Michella Chester ranks her Power 10 teams:

1. Nebraska (Previous: 1) | 2. Wisconsin (2)

There’s no movement in the top two spots, but that’s because Nebraska just narrowly escaped Penn State on Friday in its first reverse sweep of the season. The Nittany Lions had a stellar first set, hitting .552 and posting no errors, and continued to out-hit the Huskers in the second set, killing 18 to Nebraska’s 14. The Huskers garnered some momentum in the third to keep the match alive, and didn’t let off the gas until the end of the fifth set, which the Huskers nearly took, 15-13. Merritt Beason killed a career-best 27 balls on .426 hitting with five digs and three blocks to usher the Huskers to victory. On Sunday, it was business as usual as Nebraska swept Rutgers on the road.

As for Wisconsin, a four-set win over a top-20 Purdue squad and a straight-set win over Illinois summed up their week. Wisconsin’s point of weakness was revealed in the second set of the Purdue match, during which the Badger offense was held to hitting in the negatives, erring more balls (10) than they killed (9). After the Badgers regained their footing in the third set, reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Sarah Franklin heaved the Badger offense to dominate in the fourth, putting up four early kills and two blocks to take an 11-3 advantage before speeding ahead to a 25-14 victory.

Although they’ve both proven time and time again why they deserve the top two spots in the polls, Nebraska and Wisconsin have seen some threats recently. They must continue to play with targets on their back until their rematch in two weeks.

Happy in Happy Valley 😄 pic.twitter.com/sxZGZuPIuB

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 4, 2023

3. Stanford (4)

Following Louisville’s loss, Stanford re-claims the No. 3 slot in this week’s rankings. The Cardinal took on Pac-12 foe Washington State for the second time this season, and took down the Cougs in four sets (for the second time this season). Sami Francis shined for the Cardinal, knocking down a season-best 12 kills and blocking five. That was Stanford’s sixth top-10 win of the season — most of any school — and they will continue to be challenged with a top-5 opponent as they face Oregon this…