Vball Rankings Shakeup -- Guessing the FH Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Volleyball Rankings Shakeup

In anticipation for tomorrow night, we saw the NCAA Volleyball rankings look like a Chinese fire drill in what is nearly impossible to follow.

The good news is that Louisville shot up to #5 after sitting at #10 last week. The Cards improved to 8-0 on the year after sweeping then-#6 Purdue and Xavier. Louisville has brought the brooms out on seven of their wins so far with the only two sets they've lost in being to Arizona State.

ACC rival Pitt sits one spot ahead of the Cards at #4. The Panthers improved to 8-0 with a trio of wins last weekend. Louisville hosts Pitt on Oct. 24, and travels there on Nov. 24.

Georgia Tech is the other ACC team in the Top 25 coming in at #18. The Yellow Jackets are now 7-1 following three wins at the Georgia Tech Classic over the weekend.

Texas and Wisconsin remained in the top two positions without any reason for argument. Ohio State climbed to #3 with Pitt and UofL rounding out the top five.

Nebraska dropped to #6. The Huskers swept Creighton before falling in five sets to Utah. They play #16 Stanford tonight before hosting Louisville on Saturday.

Washington moved up to #7 and Kentucky remained at #8. The Wildcats dropped a match to Wisconsin before sweeping Marquette right after. UK comes to town Wednesday night.

Purdue fell down to #9 following the Cards' victory over them. Utah jumped from #20 all the way up to #10. Then, Utah fell in four sets to Boise State last night so their visit to the Top 10 probably won't survive the next poll.

Based off the current rankings, Louisville has six ranked opponents remaining on the schedule: Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia Tech (2x), and Pitt (2x).

Jeff and I will be in attendance for Wednesday's match against the Cats. UK has had the Cards' number in recent years, but with a great blocking team and a sold out L&N Federal Credit Union, we hope to see the streak switch in favor of Louisville.

Sticking with volleyball for a moment longer, we have a couple stats to highlight. Louisville's 3.21 blocks per set ranks second in the country behind Penn State at 3.31.

Amaya Tillman is third in the country in individual blocks per set at 1.83. The two players ahead of her are at 1.85 blocks per set so it's a tight race. Tillman also ranks nationally in another category with her .473 hitting percentage ranking eighth.

Aiko Jones' .65 aces per set ranks eighth nationally. Louisville's .335 hitting percentage ranks second in the country. 

The season is still incredibly young to look at finalists for individual and team statistics, but it's a hot and promising start!

Field Hockey Rankings Coming Soon

Michigan, Iowa, and Boston College all remained undefeated and should hold the top three spots when the latest rankings get released later today.

However, #4 North Carolina got upset for a third time this season. Saint Joseph's shocked the Tar Heels 3-2 on Friday before UNC bounced back with a 7-1 win at Drexel. The 3-3 Tar Heels may drop several spots following a loss to an unranked opponent.

Northwestern is on a hot streak with three straight wins against ranked opponents and should be moving up to the fourth spot.

Louisville, who somehow fell to #6 in last week's rankings, is now 6-0 on the year following wins against Indiana and #11 Liberty. There is no doubt they should move back up to #5.

We will have more with those rankings and news later this week.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared