BATON ROUGE — After posting a pair of sweeps last weekend, including one over then No. 25 Tennessee, the LSU volleyball team moved back into the Top 10 of the AVCA/CSTV Coaches poll, coming in at No. 10 it was announced on Monday.
After sweeping Kentucky, 3-0, at home to complete the series sweep of the Wildcats this season, the Tigers topped the Lady Vols, 3-0, to take over sole possession of first in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, two games ahead of Alabama. The Tigers are now 18-3 overall and 10-2 in league play, as they have eight SEC matches remaining in the double round robin conference schedule.
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 jumped to No. 22 in the first regular season poll and moved steadily up the polls to No. 10 until a loss at Alabama on Oct. 8 dropped them down. Since then, LSU has once again risen up the polls back into the Top 10, matching its highest ranking of the season.
The Tigers joins Florida as the two Southeastern Conference teams in the AVCA/CSTV poll. Florida leads the way at No. 7, after Tennessee dropped out of the poll. Alabama also dropped out of the other teams receiving votes this week.
The Tigers will be on the road next weekend to take on Georgia and South Carolina. LSU swept both teams in Baton Rouge earlier this season. The Tigers will take on Georgia next Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) before traveling to face the Gamecocks on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
LSU will return home again on Nov. 3 to face nationally ranked Florida at 7 p.m. The Tigers fell to the Gators last weekend in Gainesville, one of only two losses for LSU in SEC play this season. The Tigers will then take on Auburn on Nov. 5 at 1:30 p.m.
AVCA/CSTV Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll
Rank, School (First-Place Votes), Total Points, 2006 Record, Last Week
1. Nebraska (43), 1480, 18-0, 1
2. Penn State (17), 1457, 21-0, 2
3. Stanford, 1379, 17-2, 3
4. UCLA, 1321, 21-1, 4
5. Southern California, 1230, 18-2, 5
6. Washington, 1213, 17-3, 6
7. Florida, 1148, 18-2, 7
8. Texas, 1066, 13-5, 9
9. Utah, 987, 19-2, 10
10. LSU, 827, 17-3, T-12
11. California, 824, 15-5, 8
12. Minnesota, 785, 15-5, 17
13. Purdue, 748, 17-4, 14
14. Wisconsin, 737, 15-5, 11
15. Hawai’i, 578, 15-5, 16
16. Missouri, 546, 14-6, T-12
17. BYU, 512, 18-2, 18
18. San Diego, 491, 17-4, 20
19. Cal Poly, 477, 16-4, 19
20. Oklahoma, 432, 17-4, 23
21. Santa Clara, 387, 14-5, 15
22. Ohio, 286, 18-3, 21
23. New Mexico State, 252, 24-1, 22
24. Ohio State, 140, 15-5, 25
25. Duke, 72, 18-2, NR
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Oregon 47; St John’s 29; Long Beach State 21; Sacramento State 13; San Francisco 7; Bowling Green 5.