KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second-consecutive week, minimal movement occurred throughout the poll, as Rocky Mountain (Mont.) received its 10th-straight No. 1 ranking in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Battlin’ Bears were the unanimous pick for the seventh-straight week with 22 first-place votes and 622 points.
The final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. CST, along with the 36-team field for the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, presented by J&L Enterprises and CNOS Foundation. The 24-team National Championship Opening Round pairings will be announced Monday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. CST via a broadcast event on NAIANetwork.com. The top 11 seeds and championship host Briar Cliff (Iowa) receive a bye directly to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa. For conference tournament results, click here.
Rocky Mountain enters the Frontier Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed after clinching its first regular-season title since 2000 with a 3-1 win at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Oct. 30. The Battlin’ Bears, who ride a 25-match winning streak into the event, will square off against eighth-seeded Montana Western at 12 p.m. MST on Friday.
No. 2 Park (Mo.) – the NAIA’s only unbeaten team at 31-0 – held steady for the fourth-straight week with 602 points. The Pirates clinched an undefeated regular-season, the American Midwest Conference (AMC) regular-season championship and an automatic berth into the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship presented by J&L Enterprises and CNOS Foundation with a sweep of Benedictine-Springfield (Ill.) on Nov. 8. Park opens the AMC tournament Tuesday against Stephens.
Rounding out the top five again this week are No. 3 Concordia (Calif.) (577 points), No. 4 Biola (Calif.) (567 points) and No. 5 Texas at Brownsville (542 points).
Concordia and Biola play in the Golden State Athletic Conference, which does not conduct a conference tournament. Concordia has two matches remaining on its regular-season schedule – against Westmont (Calif.) on Tuesday and William Jessup (Calif.) on Thursday – while Biola wraps up the regular season on Saturday at The Master’s (Calif.).
Texas at Brownsville – the No. 1 seed and regular season champion in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) – hosts the winner of Bacone (Okla.) and St. Thomas (Texas) in the semifinals of the RRAC tournament on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CST.
Only six programs shifted positions from last edition, highlighted by a three-spot slide by MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) from No. 22 to No. 25. The drop was due in large part to a 3-1 loss at Culver-Stockton (Mo.) on Nov. 4. The Pioneers, who are the No. 1 seed in the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament, downed Peru State (Neb.), 3-0, in the quarterfinals last Saturday to set up a rematch with Culver-Stockton on Wednesday.
No. 24 Concordia (Ore.) is the lone newcomer this week. The Cavaliers, who are ranked for the first time since Oct. 22, 2013, are the No. 3 seed in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) tournament and open play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PST against Oregon Tech.
The AMC, GSAC and CCC are tied for the most programs represented in the poll with three teams each.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Association of Independent Institutions.
For the complete volleyball ratings calendar, click here.
Notes: (All information as of 2000) Rocky Mountain (Mont.) becomes the first Frontier Conference member to earn 10-straight No. 1 rankings that includes the program’s seventh unanimous selection … Rocky Mountain appeared in only four polls during the 2013 season … Five Frontier Conference members have appeared in the Top 25 since 2000 … Rocky Mountain becomes the ninth team to hold the No. 1 ranking since 2000 … Former member Fresno Pacific (Calif.) has the most No. 1 appearances with 70, followed by former member National American (S.D.) with 33 … No. 3 Concordia (Calif.), which ranks fifth all-time with 14 No. 1 mentions, holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 at 109-straight polls … No. 4 Biola (Calif.) is second with 108-consecutive mentions followed by No. 8 Columbia (Mo.) (96) and No. 5 Texas at Brownsville (71) … Thirty-three teams have made a Top 25 appearance this season … Biola, Concordia, Northwestern (Iowa) and Texas at Brownsville have ranked among the top 10 in every edition … There has only been one program that has been able to maintain the No. 1 ranking for an entire season with Fresno Pacific accomplishing the feat in 2004, 2008 and 2009.
2014 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 10 (Nov. 11)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2014 Record |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (22) |
26-2 |
622 |
|
2 |
2 |
Park (Mo.) |
31-0 |
602 |
|
3 |
3 |
Concordia (Calif.) |
29-2 |
577 |
|
4 |
4 |
Biola (Calif.) |
27-4 |
567 |
|
5 |
5 |
Texas at Brownsville |
27-4 |
542 |
|
6 |
7 |
Missouri Baptist |
32-2 |
518 |
|
7 |
6 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
29-3 |
495 |
|
8 |
8 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
32-4 |
487 |
|
9 |
9 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
30-2 |
455 |
|
10 |
10 |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
33-7 |
440 |
|
11 |
11 |
Eastern Oregon |
26-3 |
421 |
|
12 |
12 |
Midland (Neb.) |
23-7 |
393 |
|
13 |
13 |
Southern Oregon |
22-4 |
369 |
|
14 |
T14 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
25-12 |
366 |
|
15 |
T14 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
31-7 |
355 |
|
16 |
16 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
34-6 |
323 |
|
17 |
17 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
25-10 |
314 |
|
18 |
18 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
22-6 |
270 |
|
19 |
19 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
29-7 |
259 |
|
20 |
20 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
21-9 |
247 |
|
21 |
21 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
21-11 |
204 |
|
22 |
23 |
Cal State San Marcos |
23-10 |
191 |
|
23 |
24 |
Coastal Georgia |
29-1 |
177 |
|
24 |
RV |
Concordia (Ore.) |
17-8 |
139 |
|
25 |
22 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
19-13 |
131 |
Others receiving votes: Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 112; Oklahoma Baptist 107; Dordt (Iowa) 106; Evangel (Mo.) 36; Bryan (Tenn.) 30; St. Thomas (Fla.) 22; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 15; St. Catharine (Ky.) 8; Concordia (Neb.) 8; Northwestern Ohio 5; Graceland (Iowa) 5;
College of Idaho 3; Kansas Wesleyan 3; Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 3.