The Opening Weeks Of Fall Sports Have Not Helped Marquette In The Rankings

With a combined 3-6-0 record, it's not particularly surprising that Marquette's fall sports teams have begun to slip down and/or out of the various national polls.  In the preseason polling, both men's and women's soccer occupied places in the top 20 in the country, while it appeared that volleyball was maybe one solid win away from jumping into the top 25.  Now, only one poll is keeping the men's soccer team in the top 25, the women are out of both major national polls, and volleyball appears to have gone backwards by doing nothing but losing to the #18 team in the country at the time.

After starting the season 15th in the country in the NSCAA Top 25, Marquette women's soccer has fallen completely out of the top 25.  They're still receiving votes after their 1-3-0 start, though.  With 52 points in the most recent poll, head coach Markus Roeders' crew is sitting 28 points outside #25 in an official slot of #29.  Right in front of the Golden Eagles at #28 is Nebraska.  Over in the Soccer America poll, MU has also fallen out of the top 25 after starting at #12.

Men's soccer has fared slightly better.  While Louis Bennett and his boys are 0-2-0 on the season after the opening weekend, it's hard to fault them for a 2-1 loss to preseason #1 Notre Dame.  As a result, Soccer America still has Marquette ranked #22 in the country.  The coaches are slightly less forgiving, as the NSCAA has dumped MU from the top 25 in the most recent rankings.  Kind of seems unfair when the teams they lost to, Notre Dame and Indiana, now sit at #5 and #12 in the rankings, but losses are losses, I suppose.

Ryan Theis and women's volleyball were not ranked in the AVCA preseason top 25, but they weren't that far from a ranking.  MU found themselves with 102 points and just 27 points away from the #25 slot in the preseason poll.  However, after defeating a team that got votes in that poll and losing to the #18 team in that poll, somehow the Golden Eagles have gone backwards.  They find themselves with just 47 points in the newest poll, and that has them 81 points away from Louisville and Oklahoma, the two teams that are tied for 24th place in the first in-season poll.  The good news is that Marquette will take cracks at two teams in front of them this weekend.  MU will be a part of the American Tournament, which will feature games against the host, American University (111 points, an unofficial #26), as well as #8 Florida State.