Nebraska Remains No. 1 in USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll

Lincoln -- The Nebraska volleyball team maintained its hold over the No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll released Monday despite dropping a four-game match at Long Beach State Saturday, Sept. 1. The Huskers, who play perhaps the most difficult nonconference schedule in the nation with eight ranked teams in three weeks to start the season, are 3-1 with wins over No. 10 Hawaii, No. 8 Pacific and No. 13 UC Santa Barbara.

Im very surpised that we stayed at No. 1 in the poll, NU Coach John Cook said. If I had a vote, I would have put Long Beach State No. 1. I think they deserve it. They are a great team, and they played well against us. I dont know what else they would have had to do to take over the top spot.

The defending NCAA Division I national volleyball champion, NU was an overwhelming favorite in the preseason poll released Aug. 13, but now owns a slim 35-point margin over the second-ranked 49ers. The Huskers received four fewer first-place votes than Long Beach State, which had 28. Wisconsin was ranked third with four first-place votes. Penn State and Arizona rounded out the top five.

Five Big 12 Conference teams were ranked in the Sept. 3 poll, including No. 18 Texas A&M, No. 22 Kansas State, No. 23 Colorado and No. 25 Texas.

The Huskers returned from their weekend trip to California Monday afternoon to begin preparations for another challenging weekend. NU will play host to three ranked teams as No. 7 UCLA, No. 17 Pepperdine and No. 20 Notre Dame travel to Lincoln for the US Bank/Arbys Classic. Nebraska opens tournament action Friday at 7 p.m. against the Waves.

USA TODAY/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25
Week 1 Poll: Sept. 3, 2001

Rank	School (1st-Place Votes)	Total Pts.	2001 Record	Preseason Poll
1	Nebraska (24)	1562	3-1	1
2	Long Beach State (28)*	1527	2-0	8
3	Wisconsin (4)	1430	4-1	4
4	Penn State (7)	1391	3-0	3
5	Arizona (1)	1335	3-0	6
6	USC (1)	1328	1-1	2
7	UCLA*	1224	3-0	7
8	Pacific*	1211	5-1	12
9	Stanford	1143	3-0	10
10	Hawaii*	1022	2-3	5
11	Florida	988	2-1	9
12	Colorado State	891	3-0	14
13	UC Santa Barbara*	744	0-2	13
14	Minnesota	682	2-1	15
15	Pepperdine*	673	3-0	17
16	BYU	654	2-1	11
17	Ohio State	644	3-0	16
18	Texas A&M*	588	4-0	18
19	Utah	399	3-0	21
20	Notre Dame*	371	3-0	20
21	South Carolina	358	3-0	23
22	Kansas State*	265	1-2	19
23	Colorado*	166	3-0	NR
24	Santa Clara	136	3-1	22
25	Texas*	116	3-0	NR