Rankings (D1 Committee)

1. Texas  (12-0)
2. Louisville (15-1)
3. San Diego (15-1)
4. Nebraska (14-1)
5. Pittsburgh (16-2)
6. Ohio State (10-7)
7. Oregon (10-4)
8. Stanford (10-4)
9. Purdue (14-2)
10.  Minnesota (8-5)

College volleyball is heating up and the NCAA DI Committee has recently released the top 10 rankings. Here is a preview of the top 5 teams this season:

Texas

This season, Texas volleyball has gone undefeated up to this point, as expected their offense dominated by super seniors Logan Eggleston (OH), Asjia O’Neal (MB), Kayla Caffey (MB), Zoe Fleck (L), and Sage Ka’aha’aina-Torres (S). Their supporting cast of underclassmen in Maddelyn Skinner (OH) and Keonilei Akana (DS) have provided the Longhorns with a stable well rounded defense and offense. Last season, the Longhorns fell to the then 9th seed Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament. This year has had a very similar appearance to last season, with the Longhorns coming out on top by a marginal lead nearly every match. They have been the number one seed in all of the AVCA Coaches Polls and were later put on top again when the Collegiate Board released their first rankings of the year on Sunday October 2nd, 2022. The Longhorns have beaten 3 top ten teams as of now, including the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0 and 3-1), the Minnesota Gophers (3-1), and the Stanford Cardinals (3-0). 

Louisville 

The Louisville Cardinals have yet again proven to be a dominant force in the NCAA after losing in the Final Four last year to defending champions, the Wisconsin Badgers. The squad returns many former starters including super senior Claire Chaussee, junior Anna Debeer, sophomore Elena Scott, and senior Alexa Hendricks. The Cardinals are 15-1 only dropping a match to Ohio State. 

San Diego 

The San Diego Toreros have been a Cinderella story this season; last season they finished 20-8 and 14-4 in the conference. As of this year, they have upset Pitt (a final four finisher last season) and are currently 15-1 only losing to #2 Louisville. The squad is led by super seniors Gabby Blossom and Breana Edwards.

Nebraska

The Corn Huskers have leaped out to an expected successful start this season after losing in the National Championship last season. Now sophomore Lexi Rodriguez has yet again proven to be one of the best liberos in the NCAA and super senior Nicklyn Haynes has filled many crucial roles for the Huskers in both the setting and defensive specialist role. The Huskers are currently 14-1 only losing to Stanford this season. 

Pittsburgh

The Panthers have yet again proven themselves to be one of the best teams in the NCAA despite losing super seniors Lekator Member-Meneah, Kayla Lund, and Chi Endee. Some key transfers such as Julia Dalton and Courtney Buzz have propelled the Panthers to a quick 16-2 start only losing to Towson and San Diego. 

College volleyball has been off to a great start this season with many major upsets and surprising new power houses. This season will hold many surprises and the NCAA tournament is set up to be one of the best in history, with so many fantastic players spread all across the board.