Pitt volleyball team moves up to No. 4 in national rankings

The AVCA Division I coaches poll was updated on Monday, and the Pitt volleyball team moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the national ranking after defeating No. 9 Baylor and an undefeated but unranked Tennessee team during a weekend trip to Knoxville. The Panthers found themselves in two tight matchups but came out on top in both, beating the Bears 3-2 on Saturday and the Lady Vols 3-2 on Sunday.

The back-to-back wins kept Pitt’s perfect record intact, and the team now sits at 5-0 ahead of the Panther Challenge, which is set to get underway at the Fitzgerald Field House on Friday morning. Pitt's group of opponents in the event includes Bowling Green and High Point, but Pitt will also face a serious test when it hosts No. 12 BYU on Friday night.

Pitt is joined in the top five by No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Nebraska and No. 4 Ohio State, which Pitt is currently tied with. And the top 10 is rounded out by No. 6 Purdue, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Washington and No. 10 Louisville. Florida and Kentucky both suffered losses over the last week, allowing Pitt to leapfrog them. And the latter two teams in the top 10 should be familiar to Pitt, as Washington ended Pitt’s NCAA tournament run in April and ACC rival Louisville is set to host Pitt on Oct. 24 and then face Pitt in its regular-season finale on Nov. 24 this season.

Aside from Pitt and Louisville, the only other ACC program included in the top 25 is Georgia Tech, which fell from No. 16 to No. 21 this week after suffering a 3-1 loss to No. 18 UCLA on Saturday. The Panthers are also set to face the Yellow Jackets twice this season, with the first matchup coming in Pittsburgh on Oct. 10 and the next in Atlanta on Nov. 19.

Given Pitt's upcoming matchups with lower-tier teams like Bowling Green and High Point as well as a lower-ranked opponent in BYU, it seems the team is poised to maintain its spot in the top five for another week. But Pitt will have to approach its matchup with BYU with caution, as the Cougars are on a roll and will bring a 6-0 record with them to Pittsburgh.