As fans await the #5 Texas Longhorns to play the first of their three final regular season matches Friday in Waco against Baylor, a quick check in on Volleyball news of the week.
SHOUT OUTS – On Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference named six Longhorns to the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 Volleyball First Team having maintained a 3.20 or better Grade Point Average. Congratulations to Seniors Morgan Johnson and Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani; juniors Autumn Rounsaville, Claire Hahn, and Micaya White; and, sophomore Ashley Shook. Freshman and transfers are not eligible for academic honors their first year but this didn’t prevent freshman Jhenna Gabriel from earning the Conference’s Big 12 Rookie of the Week following her first two starts where she nailed 76 assists, 10 digs, three kills, three aces, and two blocks.
TOURNEY ROAD – While Texas retains their spot at number 5, they are a longshot to be seeded fourth and host a regional in the championship tournament as the four who precede them haven’t budged. Barring an unforeseen upset for #1 BYU, who lost one of their star players last week – McKenna Miller – to an ACL tear, #2 Stanford, #3 Minnesota or #4 Illinois, the seeds seem near final. The Longhorns schedule was tough this season and the RPI rankings support that ranking them #4 but it would take a surprise to bring the play to Austin. Selection show for the bracket is Sunday, November 25 followed by the First round of play beginning Thursday, November 29, with the finals in Minneapolis, December 13 and 15.
NCAA AVCA Coaches Poll
1 BYU
2 Stanford
3 Minnesota
4 Illinois
5 Texas
6 Nebraska
T-7 Penn State
T-7 Wisconsin
9 Creighton
10 Pittsburgh
NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI
1 Stanford
2 Illinois
3 Minnesota
4 Texas
5 BYU
6 Wisconsin
7 Southern California
8 Kentucky
9 Pittsburgh
10 UC
