Volleyball Ends Season Ranked 11th
December 20, 2006 | Volleyball
The University of Wisconsin volleyball team ended the 2006 season ranked 11th in the final CSTV/American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. It is the 11th straight year and the 12th overall year that the Badgers have ended the season ranked in the top 25.
Wisconsin completed the year 26-7, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. It was the third straight year that the Badgers have competed in regional play. The UW also finished third in the Big Ten Conference at 16-4, the most league wins for the Badgers since 2001.
Wisconsin spent the entire 2006 season ranked among the top 14 teams in the poll. It is only the fourth time in the 33-year history of the UW program that the Badgers have spent the entire season among the top 15 teams nationally. The team started the year ranked a season-high ninth in the preseason poll and were ranked a season-low 14th four times in September and October.
NCAA champion Nebraska (33-1) becomes only the third team since the poll's inception in 1982 to go through the entire season at No. 1. National runner-up Stanford (30-4) ended the season ranked second while final four participants UCLA (33-4) and Washington (29-5) round out the top four, respectively.
Big Ten champion Penn State (32-3) wraps up 2006 ranked fifth while Minnesota (26-8) is close behind at sixth. Following Wisconsin at 11th, Ohio State (25-8) comes in at 16th and Purdue (23-11) at 18th. No other league schools were ranked or receive votes.
