Texas volleyball ended the regular season No. 3 in the national poll conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Longhorns (21-2, 13-2 SEC) picked up 1,327 points in the poll while flipping spots with No. 4 Pittsburgh. Nebraska and Kentucky remain the top two teams in the poll, with the Cornhuskers receiving all 61 first-place votes.
Texas, which has now recorded 21 consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins under head coach Jerritt Elliott, beat South Carolina 3-1 in the regular-season finale Sunday at Gregory Gymnasium. The team will enter next week’s SEC Tournament in Savannah, Ga., as the No. 3 seed behind conference champion Kentucky and second-place Texas A&M. The Longhorns earned two tournament byes as a top-four seed and will face either Missouri, LSU or Ole Miss Nov. 23 in a quarterfinal contest.
Better yet for Texas, the Longhorns remain No. 2 behind Nebraska in Monday’s latest RPI rankings released by the NCAA, which offer a clue on how the NCAA selection committee will seed the 64-team tournament field. Nebraska is all but assured of receiving one of the top four seeds, which comes with serving as a host for the two regional rounds. Texas seems locked in as a top-four seed after staying at No. 2 in the NCAA’s RPI ranking ahead of No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 Pittsburgh and No. 5 Kentucky.
American Volleyball Coaches Association, Nov. 17 poll
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Western Kentucky 50; UTEP 49; Florida 43; Kansas State 41; Missouri 20; Michigan 19; San Diego 14; UCLA 3; Xavier 3