Penn State Drops From Power 10: The Editorial Ranking and the Week 3 Trap

Late on September 21, Rec Hall was still buzzing. Penn State, the No. 9 women's volleyball program in the nation, had just fallen 1-3 to No. 16 Tennessee. Hours later, NCAA.com released its Week 3 Power 10 – an analyst-curated power ranking by Michella Chester – and Penn State was gone. When I searched for "Penn State Tennessee" on Google, all I got was a summary lacking set scores, error counts, and every number needed to understand what actually happened. Rec Hall was packed, yet the box score was missing its most important figures. The Power 10 is an editorial product, not an official selection tool. The NCAA Tournament in December relies on RPI, the AVCA Coaches Poll, and the selection committee's judgment. Confuse the two systems and you misread the entire story. Penn State is one of the most storied programs in college volleyball. Dropping out of the Power 10 for the first time this season is notable. But more notable is how the story is being told. Penn State's own recap blamed unforced errors. That is a label, not an explanation. Unforced errors in volleyball usually mean missed serves or self-inflicted attacking mistakes. But where? In serve receive? On the pins? Behind the service line? The article doesn't say. Without data, the diagnosis is meaningless. Still, some numbers stand out. Setter Gabrielle Nichols produced 38 assists and 12 digs, her third double-double of the season. Ava Falduto led the team with 15 digs. Ryla Jones, an outside hitter, was named but given no stat line. No set scores. No perfect-pass rate. No attack efficiency. We cannot know whether this was a tight match or one-sided. We cannot know if Tennessee is truly rising or Penn State simply beat itself. In my years covering NCAA volleyball, I've seen athletic media relations selectively release stats after losses. It is not necessarily hiding; it is part of the college sports media game. But for analysts, this creates a huge gap. Without symmetrical data from Tennessee, any claim of a resume-building win is guesswork. The real insight is contrarian: we tend to read this as a true shift in power. But with an editorial ranking, weekly volatility is structural. One result can move a team in or out. Penn State is still a strong team. They just lost their first ranked match of the season. If they beat Big Ten opponents in coming weeks, this loss becomes a footnote. If Tennessee keeps winning, then we can talk about a real rise. One match is not enough. TCU also entered the top 10 the same week, suggesting a broader reshuffle. But remember: this reshuffle is one analyst's view, based on a season only a few weeks old. Programs are still gelling. Star players are finding form. The most important games are yet to come. In the long run, these ranking changes might affect recruiting. A high school prospect could see "top 10" and think a program is rising. But that signal takes time to compound; it cannot rest on one win. The most important thing to remember: the Power 10 is an opinion, not a fact. And opinions, especially in Week 3, often reflect our fears and expectations more than on-court reality. Let the data speak. Let conference play decide. NCAA women's volleyball is thriving – because of matches like this, and because of players like Gabrielle Nichols and Ava Falduto, playing their hearts out in a system still full of biases.