By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina stayed at No. 7 in the women’s soccer poll ahead of Thursday’s clash with No. 2 Duke while the Tar Heels fell in the field hockey and volleyball polls.
The field hockey team (3–3), No. 2 in the preseason poll, dropped six spots to a season-low No. 11, and the volleyball team (4–2) fell seven spots to No. 15.
Coach Damon Nahas’s women’s soccer team (7–1) takes a four-match win streak into Thursday’s big 8 p.m. home match (ACC Network) against Duke. The Blue Devils moved up one spot in the poll and have won their last five matches, including Sunday’s 5–0 home victory over previously top-ranked Stanford (6–1–1), which fell to No. 6.
There are six ACC teams in the poll, including No. 3 Wake Forest (8–0; unchanged), No. 13 Virginia (4–1–2; down three spots), No. 17 Notre Dame (3–0–5; previously unranked), and No. 21 Florida State (4–1–2; down three spots)
UNC opened ACC play with a 3–0 win Thursday over Cal, then rolled to a 5–0 Sunday home win over NJIT.
Coach Erin Matson’s team dropped in the field hockey poll after losing to No. 15 Old Dominion (4–1; up five spots) 5–4 in overtime on Friday before winning 2–1 at Richmond on Sunday. The Tar Heels open ACC play at home Sunday in a noon matchup (ACC Network) with No. 9 Virginia (4–1; up two spots).
In addition to UNC and Virginia, other ACC teams in the poll are No. 4 Wake Forest (4–1; up two spots), No. 8 Duke (4–2; up one spot), No. 12 Syracuse (4–1; up three spots) and No. 14 Louisville (4–2; down two spots)
Coach Mike Schall’s team fell in the volleyball poll after suffering its first two losses of the season at the start of a challenging stretch of the schedule.
The Tar Heels lost 3–0 on Wednesday at No. 4 Kentucky (7–2; up one spot) and fell 3–1 on Sunday in New York to Vanderbilt (7–0) before visiting No. 1 Nebraska (7–0) at 8 p.m. ET Friday (Big Ten Network).
There are four other ACC teams in the volleyball poll: No. 2 Pittsburgh (10–0), No. 3 Louisville (9–1; up one spot), No. 5 SMU (6–2; up three spots) and No. 8 Stanford (5–2; down four spots).
United Soccer Top 25 women’s poll
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State | 5 | 5 | 197 | 6-0-2 |
| 2 | Duke | 3 | 2 | 193 | 6-0-1 |
| 3 | Wake Forest | 3 | 0 | 182 | 8-0-0 |
| 4 | Vanderbilt | 2 | 1 | 178 | 7-0-1 |
| 5 | Ohio State | 6 | 0 | 165 | 6-0-1 |
| 6 | Stanford | 1 | 0 | 163 | 6-1-1 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 7 | 0 | 147 | 7-1-0 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 8 | 0 | 142 | 6-0-1 |
| 9 | West Virginia | 8 | 0 | 131 | 5-0-1 |
| 10 | Alabama | 11 | 0 | 128 | 8-1-0 |
| 11 | Washington | 12 | 0 | 117 | 7-0-1 |
| 12 | Baylor | 17 | 0 | 108 | 7-1-0 |
| 13 | Virginia | 10 | 0 | 93 | 4-1-2 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 14 | 0 | 90 | 5-1-2 |
| 15 | Colorado | 19 | 0 | 81 | 6-1-1 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 19 | 0 | 79 | 7-1-0 |
| 17 | Notre Dame | RV | 0 | 77 | 3-0-5 |
| 18 | Texas State | 15 | 0 | 55 | 7-1-1 |
| 18 | Utah State | NR | 0 | 55 | 6-2-1 |
| 20 | TCU | 22 | 0 | 47 | 3-2-1 |
| 21 | UCLA | 16 | 0 | 46 | 4-3-1 |
| 21 | Florida State | 18 | 0 | 46 | 4-1-2 |
| 23 | BYU | 13 | 0 | 40 | 4-2-1 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | NR | 0 | 19 | 7-0-2 |
| 25 | Central Florida | RV | 0 | 5 | 5-1-0 |
Also receiving votes: Saint Louis (3), Virginia Tech (3), Penn State (2), Liberty (2), Clemson (2), Texas Tech (1), Memphis (1) and Florida (1)
NFHCA Field Hockey Top 25
| Rank | School | Record | Points (first place votes) | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern | 6-0 | 220 (11) | 1 | ― |
| 2 | Iowa | 6-0 | 207 (0) | 2 | ― |
| 3 | Princeton | 3–1 | 189 (0) | 4 | ▲1 |
| 4 | Wake Forest | 4–1 | 182 (0) | 6 | ▲2 |
| 5 | Maryland | 6–0 | 177 (0) | 7 | ▲2 |
| 6 | Mass.-Amherst | 6–0 | 153 (0) | 12 | ▲6 |
| 7 | Harvard | 3–1 | 149 (0) | 3 | ▼4 |
| 8 | Duke | 4–2 | 146 (0) | 9 | ▲1 |
| 9 | Virginia | 4–1 | 127 (0) | 11 | ▲2 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 4–1 | 119 (0) | 10 | ― |
| 11 | North Carolina | 3–3 | 108 (0) | 5 | ▼6 |
| 12 | Syracuse | 4–1 | 88 (0) | 15 | ▲3 |
| 13 | Liberty | 4–2 | 85 (0) | 13 | ― |
| 13 | Michigan | 3–2 | 85 (0) | 8 | ▼5 |
| 15 | Old Dominion | 4–1 | 73 (0) | 20 | ▲5 |
| 16 | Louisville | 4–2 | 65 (0) | 14 | ▼2 |
| 17 | Yale | 4–0 | 51 (0) | 18 | ▲1 |
| 18 | California | 5–0 | 27 (0) | Unranked | ― |
| 19 | Monmouth | 4–1 | 24 (0) | 19 | ― |
| 20 | Ohio State | 4–2 | 6 (0) | Unranked | ― |
AVCA Volleyball Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Poll points | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska (48) | 1,560 | 7-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh (15) | 1,527 | 10-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Louisville | 1,419 | 9-1 | 5 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 1,370 | 7-2 | 3 |
| 5 | SMU | 1,206 | 6-2 | 8 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 1,173 | 4-4 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 1,064 | 4-4 | 9 |
| 8 | Stanford | 1,047 | 5-2 | 4 |
| 9 | Penn State | 1,037 | 6-1 | 12 |
| 10 | Florida | 1,007 | 7-1 | 10 |
| 11 | Purdue | 955 | 5-2 | 14 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 926 | 7-2 | 7 |
| 13 | TCU | 906 | 6-2 | 11 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 766 | 4-2 | 13 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 626 | 4-5 | 19 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 571 | 6-1 | 17 |
| 17 | Colorado | 519 | 8-0 | 23 |
| 18 | Baylor | 443 | 6-2 | 20 |
| 19 | Southern Cal | 416 | 4-3 | 16 |
| 20 | Creighton | 379 | 5-4 | 15 |
| 21 | Indiana | 337 | 5-2 | 21 |
| 22 | Kansas | 308 | 4-3 | 22 |
| 23 | Oregon | 274 | 7-1 | 24 |
| 24 | BYU | 216 | 5-1 | 25 |
| 25 | North Carolina | 195 | 4-2 | 18 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Georgia Tech 83; UCLA 46; Tulsa 25; Ball State 24; Vanderbilt 20; Cal Poly 12; Michigan State 7
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
