NCAA volleyball rankings: Next to Nebraska, Texas is a contender

A lot of teams across women’s college volleyball had very good weeks.

North Carolina, for example, remains undefeated and notched a signature win by sweeping Florida.

But perhaps no team had a better recent stretch of performances than Texas, who bested a pair of top 10 teams in Stanford and Louisville. A state-record crowd of nearly 11,000 people came to Austin to watch the Longhorns defeat the Cardinal in five thrilling sets, powered by Torrey Stafford’s double-double of 18 kills and 10 digs. She helped seal the win with five kills in the decisive fifth set.

Texas kept rolling against Louisville in Fort Worth, taking down the Cardinals in five tight sets with Stafford again leading the way. She recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 20 kills and 18 digs to pair with three aces. Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal — freshmen for the Longhorns — also notched career-best kills with 16 and 14 respectively.

It’s the third time that a Texas team coached by Jerritt Elliott has beaten four ranked opponents within its first five matches. The last time the Longhorns did that, in 2022, they won the national title. The Longhorns’ schedule doesn’t get any easier as matches with Arizona State and TCU loom.

Since we last checked in with the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers — who remain at No. 1 this week despite the strong push from Texas — they swept both Wright State and Cal. Harper Murray led the way in both matches, combining for 25 kills in the pair of victories. Nebraska should get better tests this week as it faces Utah, Grand Canyon and Creighton in the span of five days.

Elsewhere among teams who look like legit contenders, Pitt got a statement win on Wednesday by sweeping Kentucky. Olivia Babcock contributed 15 kills, while Brooke Mosher tallied 39 assists and 13 digs. The Panthers also notched wins over Pepperdine and Jacksonville last weekend. The result for Kentucky was a bit of a letdown for the Wildcats after they swept Penn State last Friday.

Speaking of the Nittany Lions, in addition to their loss to Kentucky, reigning National Freshman of the Year Izzy Starck announced that she is stepping “away from volleyball this season in order to prioritize my mental health.” The sophomore is no longer listed on Penn State’s online roster, but a source familiar with the situation confirmed to SB Nation that she has not entered the transfer portal.

Texas A&M was among those who had disappointing weeks after the Aggies lost back-to-back games to in-state non-conference opponents. SMU swept the Aggies in Dallas on Tuesday, and then TCU beat them in five sets on Wednesday in Fort Worth.

The victory for TCU set a program record for most wins against ranked opponents in a single season. Samara Coleman, a freshman, steered TCU with a career-high 19 kills. The Horned Frogs are 5-1 and off to a great start.

Here’s our updated Power Rankings:

Just missed: BYU, North Carolina, Penn State, Texas A&M, Florida

And here’s the games you need to watch: