The first 2025 AVCA women’s college volleyball rankings have been released, with Nebraska coming in as the preseason No. 1. Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 AVCA preseason poll.
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Below is the full AVCA Preseason poll, with first-place votes noted in parentheses:
| Rank | School | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska (40) | 1490 |
| 2 | Penn State (21) | 1459 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | 1338 |
| 4 | Louisville | 1240 |
| 5 | Texas | 1223 |
| 6 | Stanford | 1200 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 1181 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 1167 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 844 |
| 10 | SMU | 830 |
| 11 | Minnesota | 811 |
| 12 | Creighton | 778 |
| 13 | Arizona State | 707 |
| 14 | Kansas | 626 |
| 15 | Purdue | 591 |
| 16 | Florida | 570 |
| 17 | Missouri | 541 |
| 18 | UCLA | 456 |
| 19 | BYU | 362 |
| 20 | Baylor | 338 |
| 21 | Southern California | 319 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 298 |
| 23 | Utah | 282 |
| 24 | Dayton | 225 |
| 25 | TCU | 182 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Tennessee 126; Oregon 124; North Carolina 113; Marquette 94; Western Kentucky 40; Oklahoma 37; Miami (Fla.) 34; Washington 34; Florida State 33; Houston 26; Hawai'i 20; San Diego 18; Arkansas 10; Rice 10; Arizona 4; Northern Iowa 41.
1. How the AVCA poll compares to our Power 10 preseason rankings
Michella Chester released her preseason Power 10 rankings before the AVCA poll dropped. Here’s how her top 10 stacks up against the coaches':
- Nebraska (1)
- Penn State (2)
- Texas (5)
- Pittsburgh (3)
- Wisconsin (8)
- Kentucky (7)
- Stanford (6)
- Louisville (4)
- Texas A&M (9)
- UCLA (18)
Most of Chester’s top-10 is similar other than some differences in the order, but the big surprise is an unproven UCLA team at her No. 10 spot, whereas the coaches ranked the Bruins at No. 18.
2. Nebraska returns to preseason No. 1 for the first time since 2022.
The Huskers are back on top, taking back the No. 1 preseason ranking for the first time since 2022. They earned 1,490 points with 40 first place votes, beating out defending national champion Penn State for the top spot.
Nebraska finished fourth in the final rankings in 2024 after losing to Penn State in the national semifinal, but the addition of some key freshmen and a new head coach in Dani Busboom Kelly gave the Huskers the edge in voting.
MORE NEBRASKA: Dani Busboom Kelly named Huskers’ new head coach
3. Penn State takes the No. 2 spot.
The defending champion Nittany Lions just missed out on the No. 1 spot, earning 1,459 points and 21 first-place votes after winning their eighth national title in 2024.
Penn State hasn’t been ranked preseason No. 1 since 2015, when it was coming off back-to-back national titles, but it is no stranger to the top spot in the AVCA rankings. The Nittany Lions once held the No. 1 spot for 42 consecutive polls from Oct. 29, 2007, to Sept. 6, 2010.
4. Pitt, Louisville and Texas round out the top five.
Pitt takes the No. 3 spot, bringing back AVCA National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock. The 2024 national runner-up Louisville comes in at No. 4 after some offseason departures. Texas is No. 5 after the additions of key transfers in Torrey Stafford and Ramsey Gary.
READ MORE: Pittsburgh’s Olivia Babcock named AVCA National Player of the Year
5. The AVCA preseason No. 1 has won the national championship 33% of the time.
Since the inception of the AVCA coaches’ poll in 1982, the preseason No. 1 team has gone on to win the national championship 14 times: Hawai’i (1983), UCLA (1990, 1992), Stanford (1997, 2018, 2019), Penn State (1999, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014), Southern Cal (2003), Nebraska (2006), Texas (2023).
The AVCA did not release a preseason poll from 1987-1989.
6. There have been five teams ranked preseason No. 1 that held the top spot for the entire season.
Sometimes, the preseason coaches poll is spot on. Since 1982, five teams held onto the top spot from preseason, all the way until the final poll: UCLA (1992), Southern Cal (2003), Nebraska (2006), Penn State (2008, 2009).
7. No preseason unranked team has ever won the national championship.
Three teams are tied for the lowest-ranked team to go on to win the championship, each coming in at No. 11 in their respective AVCA preseason rankings: BYU (1986), UCLA (2011), Stanford (2016).
