The Nebraska Volleyball team was tied for No. 5 overall in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll Tuesday afternoon alongside Pittsburgh.
It marks the second time in the last three seasons that the Huskers have been tabbed No. 5 entering a season with NU picked No. 5 in the preseason poll before the 2020-2021 spring season. Coming off a year that saw the Huskers fail to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in nearly a decade, Nebraska aims to get back to the Final Four despite welcoming in six newcomers to the roster.
The 2023 No. 1 ranked recruiting class headlines the newbies as five freshman come into Lincoln and are poised to have big roles for head coach John Cook. Nebraska will also break in a new setter as they transition back to a traditional 5-1 offense.
The Huskers' 2023 campaign begins with the annual Red-White Scrimmage on August 19 followed by the Ameritas Players Challenge from August 25-27 that sees NU play Utah State, Lipscomb and SMU across the three-day competition.
Texas — the defending national champions — was selected No. 1 followed by Wisconsin, Stanford and Louisville to round out the top five. Minnesota, Penn State, Oregon and Kentucky made up the rest of the top ten.
The Big Ten conference owns four of the top-ten teams and six of the top 25. When conference realignment begins in 2024, Oregon (No. 9) and USC (No. 22) would join that list to make eight of the top 25.
Match dates with top-25 battles
Sept. 6: Creighton
Sept. 12: at Stanford
Sept. 17: Kentucky
Sept. 22: Ohio State
Sept. 24: Minnesota
Sept. 29: at Purdue
Oct. 14: Penn State
Oct. 21: Wisconsin
Nov. 3: at Penn State
Nov. 24: at Wisconsin
Nov. 25: at Minnesota
Top 25
1: Texas (44)
2: Wisconsin (6)
3: Stanford (13)
4: Louisville
T-5: Nebraska
T-5: Pittsburgh
7: Minnesota
8: Penn State
9: Oregon
10: Kentucky
11: Florida
12: Marquette
13: San Diego
14: Ohio State
15: Baylor
16: Purdue
17: BYU
18: Creighton
19: Houston
20: Georgia Tech
21: Washington State
22: USC
23: Rice
24: Western Kentucky
25: Arkansas
