You’d think the Ivy League is all about library stacks and hushed whispers. Spend five minutes at a match in Princeton’s Dillon Gymnasium or Yale’s Payne Whitney, and you’ll realize how wrong that is. The noise is deafening. The intensity is frankly a little scary.
When people search for ivy league volleyball rankings, they’re usually looking for a simple list. But the 2025-2026 cycle proved that rankings in this league are anything but simple. It’s a mess of RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), conference standings, and the brutal reality of the Ivy League Tournament.
Last season, the hierarchy wasn't just settled on paper; it was settled in a five-set thriller that honestly felt more like a street fight than a volleyball match.
The Hierarchy of Ivy League Volleyball Rankings
So, who’s actually at the top? If you look at the final 2025 conference standings, Princeton sat on the throne. They finished the regular season with an 11-3 conference record, securing the outright title and the right to host the tournament.
But Yale wasn't far behind. They were nipping at Princeton's heels at 10-4. Cornell matched that 10-4 record, making the top of the table incredibly crowded.
Basically, the "rankings" changed every Friday night. You could be the favorite at 6:00 PM and an underdog by 9:00 PM. Here is how the top of the pack shook out by the time the dust settled:
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- Princeton: 11-3 (Regular Season Champs)
- Yale: 10-4
- Cornell: 10-4
- Brown: 9-5
Penn and Harvard both finished at 6-8, while Dartmouth struggled at 4-10. Columbia had a rough go of it, finishing 0-14.
The Ivy League doesn't just care about who beats who in-conference, though. The NCAA RPI rankings are the "shadow" rankings that determine if the league gets more than one team into the big dance. Usually, it's a one-bid league, which makes the stakes for that #1 spot impossibly high.
Why the Tournament Changed Everything
In the old days, the regular-season winner just went to the NCAAs. Simple. Now, we have the Ivy League Tournament. It’s great for TV, but it’s a nightmare for the team that worked all year to rank first.
Princeton entered as the #1 seed. They had the home-court advantage. They had the momentum. But in the final, Yale pushed them to the absolute limit. We’re talking about a five-set marathon: 21-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-21, 15-10.
Lucia Scalamandre, the Tigers' middle blocker, was basically a wall. She put up 20 kills and five blocks. When you talk about individual ivy league volleyball rankings for players, she’s the undisputed gold standard right now. She was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for a reason.
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How the Rankings Are Calculated (The Nerdy Version)
People get confused because the "standings" aren't always the "rankings." If you're looking at the AVCA Coaches Poll, you might not even see an Ivy team in the Top 25. That’s because the league, while talented, doesn't always have the strength of schedule of a Big Ten or a Big 12.
Instead, the league relies on a few key metrics:
- Conference Winning Percentage: This determines the seeding for the Ivy League Tournament.
- RPI (Ratings Percentage Index): This factors in your wins, your losses, and—most importantly—how good the teams you beat were.
- Head-to-Head: The first tiebreaker. If Yale and Cornell are tied, who won the season series?
Honestly, the RPI is where the Ivies often struggle. To climb those national rankings, they have to schedule "Power 4" teams in the non-conference season. Princeton did exactly that, facing USC in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They lost 3-0, but just getting there as a ranked mid-major is a massive feat.
The Impact of the "Coaching Staff of the Year"
You can't talk about rankings without talking about the people on the sidelines. Sabrina King and her staff at Princeton were named the 2025 Coaching Staff of the Year.
They didn't just win because they had better athletes. They won because they led the league in kills per set, assists per set, and hitting percentage. They built a system.
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When you're trying to figure out which team will rank highest next year, look at the setters. Sydney Draper for Princeton ended the season with a match-high 52 assists in the final. A good setter is a cheat code in the Ivy League.
Common Misconceptions About Ivy Rankings
A lot of fans think that because Harvard and Yale have the biggest names globally, they must be the best at volleyball. Not always. Brown has been a powerhouse lately. Cornell is consistently a "spoiler" team that can ruin a #1 ranking in a single weekend.
Another myth? That the rankings stay static because of the "Academic Index." People think these teams can't recruit high-level talent. Tell that to the hitters who are routinely touching 10 feet at the rim. The talent gap between the Ivies and the "Power" conferences is shrinking, mostly because the transfer portal has changed how everyone builds a roster.
Practical Steps for Following the Rankings
If you're a parent, a recruit, or just a fan who wants to stay updated on ivy league volleyball rankings without getting overwhelmed, here is what you do:
- Check the "Ivy League Network" on ESPN+: The standings there are updated in real-time.
- Watch the RPI releases on Tuesdays: The NCAA updates these weekly starting in mid-September. It's the best way to see where the league stands nationally.
- Follow individual team socials: The Ivy League office is good, but the individual team accounts (like @PrincetonWVB or @YaleVolleyball) often post the "bracketology" updates first.
- Don't ignore the "Others Receiving Votes" section: Occasionally, a dominant Ivy team will pop up in the AVCA Top 25 "Others" list. That’s a huge signal that the league is having a "up" year.
The 2026 season is already looking like a battle for redemption for Yale and a quest for a "three-peat" for Princeton. Keep an eye on the freshman classes coming in this fall; in a league this tight, one star recruit can move a team from 5th to 1st in the rankings within a single month.
Focus on the mid-season RPI as your primary indicator. While the conference standings tell you who is winning the league, the RPI tells you if that team has a prayer of making noise on the national stage. If you see two Ivy teams in the Top 50 of the RPI by October, get ready for a historic season.