Florida, Texas and surprising St. Mary’s took significant steps forward in SA’s women’s rankings this week while four of the Top 10 suffered defeats. The Gators, ranked 18th four weeks ago, rose to No. 6 after posting their sixth and seventh successive victories, over Duke (3-0) and Arkansas (4-1), and extending their unbeaten streak to nine games. The win over the Razorbacks was Florida’s 50th in succession in the Southeastern Conference. Texas vaulted from 17th to 11th with a 2-1 Big 12 Conference triumph over Nebraska, which fell from sixth to ninth. The Cornhuskers bounced back from their loss in Austin with a 4-2 victory at Texas A&M, which dropped from ninth to 12th in the SA Top 20. Unbeaten St. Mary’s, which moved into the Top 20 after a road victory over then-No. 8 California, leapt from 19th to 14th after upsetting host Portland in a West Coast Conference encounter. The Pilots dropped from third to fifth. Clemson also lost a decision, falling at Maryland, 1-0, in overtime in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash. Virginia returned to the Top 10 with wins over Maryland (1-0) and James Madison (4-1), their fifth straight victory after losing to Clemson at the end of September. Princeton replaced Georgia at No. 20 after defeating William & Mary (2-1 in overtime) and Brown (4-1). The Bulldogs fell out of the Top 20 after an SEC loss at Vanderbilt.

10/15 TEAM RECORD 10/8
1 North Carolina (12-0-0) 1
2 UCLA (11-0-0) 2
3 Santa Clara (11-1-0) 4
4 Stanford (9-1-0) 5
5 Portland (10-2-0) 3
6 Florida (10-2-1) 8
7 Penn State (10-2-1) 10
8 Notre Dame (11-1-1) 11
9 Nebraska (9-2-0) 6
10 Virginia (9-2-1) 13
11 Texas (7-3-0) 17
12 Texas A&M (6-3-1) 9
13 Clemson (8-2-0) 7
14 St. Mary’s (11-0-1) 19
15 California (10-2-1) 15
16 Connecticut (10-4-0) 16
17 Florida State (9-4-0) 12
18 Washington (7-2-1) 14
19 Wake Forest (6-4-1) 18
20 Princeton (8-1-1) NR
* Rankings are through games played Oct. 14.