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 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), 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), 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
