Updated WCC Volleyball National Rankings

With the WCC having a very strong year in women’s volleyball, here are the latest national rankings as of October 6th. While the conference lost a ranked team who dropped out of the Top 25, the WCC still boasts multiple ranked teams and multiple other teams who are receiving votes.

BYU, #10, NO CHANGE: The Cougars maintain their spot just inside the top ten after cruising to three WCC wins last week and improving to 14-2 on the year. They are making it look easy so far currently 5-0 in conference play, and they already have a 1 1/2 game lead over 2nd place Pacific. Up next is a key matchip as the Cougars travel to visit the Tigers on Thursday. A win would give them the season sweep of Pacific and likely eliminate any chance the Tigers catch them. A loss would be a minor setback, but with many other teams right behind Pacific it would be useful to shut the door now on the Tigers.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, #25, DOWN THREE SPOTS: The Lions started the week with a real statement win over San Diego, and it likely helped them stay in the rankings. They also beat Portland, but ended the week with a loss to Gonzaga. The Lions have a conference best 15 wins, but they sit at third in the standings a half game behind Pacific and two back of BYU.

SAN DIEGO, #35, DOWN 12 SPOTS: The Toreros had a tough week and took a serious tumble. After the loss to LMU they also suffered an upset to Santa Clara before saving the week with a win over San Francisco. They are the only team in the country to drop out of the Top 25 this week, and it marks the first time since early last season that the Toreros are not nationally ranked. It’s been a tough road this season as they have fallen this far all the way from their preseason ranking of #14 in the country. However they are still in the “receiving votes” category picking up 8 Top 25 votes. And at 3-2 in WCC play they are still very much in the hunt. They sit at 4th in the standings as LMU holds a head-to-head tiebreaker after the win last week.

SANTA CLARA, #33, RECEIVING VOTES: Santa Clara becomes the fifth WCC team to jump into the rankings mix after a good week. They currently sit at #33 with 10 Top 25 votes putting them in the “receiving votes” category. The Broncos got huge wins over Pacific and San Diego to really get some attention, but they were humbled by a sweep at BYU to end the week. However two wins over nearly ranked teams and a loss to a top ten team are more than enough to garner them some attention. They sit at 2-2 in WCC play are right in the middle of the pack very much within reach of the top.

PACIFIC, NOT RANKED, FORMERLY #34: The Tigers were creeping up the rankings and were in the “receiving votes” category last week. However they don’t make an appearance there this week. They bounced back from a loss to Santa Clara with wins over San Diego and Saint Mary’s, but they weren’t enough to save them. Saint Mary’s is struggling and it’s not an impressive win, while the victory over San Diego would have looked better if the Toreros hadn’t dropped out of the rankings due to their struggles. It will matter little to the Tigers however as they probably feel quite confident sitting at 2nd in the conference. But they need to keep their foot on the gas with a whopping 5 teams within a game of them and first place BYU already boasting a head-to-head win. A huge week is ahead for the Tigers with games against BYU and San Diego. They desperately need the win over the Cougars to avoid a season sweep.

GONZAGA UP NEXT? It’s already been a staggering year for the WCC in volleyball with a whopping five teams having earned at least multiple Top 25 votes. Gonzaga might be creeping up the rankings next after an upset win over Loyola Marymount. The Bulldogs are 11-4 and get another upset opportunity at Santa Clara this week. If they can get the win there and in their other match at San Francisco, we could see them start picking up votes.