BATON ROUGE — After splitting a pair of matches last week, the LSU volleyball team dropped three spots from No. 10 to No. 13 in the AVCA/CSTV Coaches poll, it was announced on Tuesday.
After defeating Arkansas, 3-1, in Fayetteville last Wednesday, the Tigers lost their first Southeastern Conference match of the season, 3-1, at Alabama on Sunday, snapping LSU’s 13-match winning streak. The Tigers are now 15-2 overall and 7-1 in league play, which puts LSU in a tie with Florida for the overall SEC lead and a game ahead of Alabama in the SEC Western Division.
The Tigers began the season receiving votes in the AVCA/CSTV poll, with LSU coming in at No. 30 among the preseason vote getters. The Tigers then moved to No. 22 in the first regular season poll and have steadily risen up the polls until this week.
LSU was ranked for one week last season, coming in at No. 24 on Sept. 26 after starting the season at 12-1. The last time the Tigers were ranked in the top 10, LSU came in at No. 8 on Sept. 7, 1992.
The Tigers are among three Southeastern Conference teams in the AVCA/CSTV poll. Florida leads the way at No. 8, while Tennessee comes in at No. 18. Alabama also moved into the teams receiving votes in the poll after topping both Arkansas and Alabama last week. Earlier in the season, LSU defeated the Lady Vols in five games in Knoxville.
The Tigers remain on the road this weekend as LSU travels to take on Auburn on Friday at 7 p.m. before facing off with No. 8 Florida in Gainesville on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) for the overall SEC lead as we reach the mid-way point in the league schedule. The Tigers will next be at home on Oct. 20 for a rematch with Kentucky before facing off with nationally ranked Tennessee again on Oct. 22.
CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll
Rank School (First-Place Votes), Total Points, 2006 Record, Last Week
1. Nebraska (45), 1476, 15-0, 1
2. Penn State (12), 1451, 17-0, 2
3. UCLA (3), 1387, 19-0, 3
4. Southern California, 1325, 17-0, 4
5. Washington, 1252, 14-3, 5
6. Stanford, 1207, 13-2, 6
7. California, 1093, 14-2, 7
8. Florida, 1089, 14-2, 8
9. Purdue, 1016, 15-2, 9
10. Texas, 914, 11-4, 11
11. Hawai’i, 744, 11-4, 15
12. Utah, 740, 15-2, 16
13. LSU, 727, 15-2, 10
14. Wisconsin, 645, 12-4, 13
15. Missouri, 629, 13-4, 17
16. Ohio State, 619, 13-3, 14
17. Santa Clara, 607, 12-4, 12
18. Tennessee, 501, 15-3, 18
19. BYU, 426, 15-2, 19
20. Cal Poly, 410, 13-4, 20
21. Ohio, 312, 14-3, 21
22. San Diego, 285, 14-4, 22
23. Minnesota, 277, 11-5, 24
24. Oklahoma, 157, 14-3, 25
25. New Mexico State, 42, 19-1, NR
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Duke 31; Pepperdine 27; Loyola Marymount 23; St John’s 20; Long Beach State 16; Colorado 11; Sacramento State 10; Alabama 9; Bowling Green State 4; Oregon 4; Saint Mary’s (CA) 4; Baylor 3.