2015 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Postseason (Dec. 9)
By Colbi Howser, Communications and Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fresh off a national championship win, Columbia (Mo.) is the top-ranked team in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• Columbia (Mo.) (34-7) received all 20 first-place votes and 560 points. This is the first time the Cougars have been ranked No. 1 since Sept. 10, 2002. Columbia swept Missouri Baptist, 3-0, in the final of the 2015 NAIA Volleyball National Championship.
• This biggest battle for the Cougars came on the final day of pool play where they faced Hastings (Neb.). The Broncos forced the Cougars into a five set match after winning the first and third sets. Columbia came back in the final two sets to shut down the Broncos (25-15, 15-11) and move on to round one of single elimination play.
• No. 2 Missouri Baptist is this season’s national runner-up. The Spartans (39-6) earned 541 points after playing in their first-ever national championship title match. Before its loss on Dec. 5, the two programs have met 38 times before. The American Midwest Conference (AMC) rivals have faced each other in the conference championship seven times in the last 10 years. The two teams only met each other once before in the national championship semifinals game in 2005, the Spartans lost 3-1.
• Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) bumps down to No. 3 in the rankings after falling to Columbia in the quarterfinals of the national championship, 3-0. The Blue Raiders entered the national championship as the Mid-South Conference tournament champions with a 3-0 win over Georgetown (Ky.). The quarterfinals is the deepest national championship run in program history for the Blue Raiders.
• No. 12 Madonna (Mich.), which entered the championship ranked No.23, highlighted a poll that saw significant movement throughout. The Crusaders were the only fourth seed to make it into single elimination matches after knocking off Evangel (Mo.), 3-1 and defending champions Park (Mo.), 3-0. The team finished their season 36-8 after falling to Biola (Calif.) in the first round of bracket play.
• No. 5 Biola, No. 9 Hastings and No. 24 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) are the only teams that did not move ranks between this week and the final regular-season poll. Biola ended their season 30-4 with a loss against Columbia, 3-2 in quarterfinals of the national championship. Hastings season ended their season (25-10) in a five set match between Georgetown (Ky.) in first round of single elimination matches. Mount Vernon Nazarene saw national championship action for the first time in eight years, but did not make it out of pool play, ending their season (34-4).
• For the first time in school history, No. 23 Ottawa (Kan.) makes their way into the Top 25 Poll. The Braves won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) tournament over Kansas Wesleyan, 3-1, to punch their ticket to the national championship. While the Braves did not make it out of pool play, they did leave the championship taking all three of their matches into four sets, including a four set match against eventual national runner-up Missouri Baptist.
• The Great Plains Athletics Conference has the most programs represented in to poll with five: No. 6 Midland (Neb.), No. 9 Hastings, No. 15 Dordt (Iowa), No. 22 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 25 Northwestern (Iowa).
• Six teams - Park, Biola, Viterbo (Wis.), Missouri Baptist, Lindsey Wilson and Columbia have - all held the No. 1 position this season, which is the most teams to hold the top ranking in a season. The only school to hold the highest seed for a whole year is Fresno Pacific (Calif.) in 2008 and 2009.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2015 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Postseason (Dec. 9)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 Record |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
4 |
Columbia (Mo.) (20) |
33-7 |
560 |
| 2 |
3 |
Missouri Baptist |
39-6 |
541 |
| 3 |
1 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
37-4 |
516 |
| 4 |
2 |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
40-5 |
508 |
| 5 |
5 |
Biola (Calif.) |
30-4 |
496 |
| 6 |
7 |
Midland (Neb.) |
33-4 |
471 |
| 7 |
6 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
25-7 |
448 |
| 8 |
12 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
32-8 |
436 |
| 9 |
9 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
25-10 |
416 |
| 10 |
14 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
28-11 |
394 |
| 11 |
15 |
College of Idaho |
24-12 |
381 |
| 12 |
23 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
36-8 |
366 |
| 13 |
19 |
Southern Oregon |
26-6 |
317 |
| 14 |
10 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
27-9 |
316 |
| 15 |
13 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
25-7 |
309 |
| 16 |
T17 |
Evangel (Mo.) |
39-7 |
287 |
| 17 |
11 |
Eastern Oregon |
25-5 |
282 |
| 18 |
T17 |
Lourdes (Ohio) |
33-2 |
254 |
| 19 |
8 |
Park (Mo.) |
24-11 |
226 |
| 20 |
22 |
Coastal Georgia |
31-6 |
217 |
| 21 |
20 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
20-7 |
176 |
| 22 |
16 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
26-9 |
175 |
| 23 |
RV |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
35-6 |
152 |
| 24 |
24 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
34-4 |
141 |
| 25 |
21 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
24-8 |
125 |
| |
|
|
|
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Dropped from the Top 25: Grand View (Iowa)
Others receiving votes: Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 101, Grand View (Iowa) 90, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 50, Indiana Wesleyan 31, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 23, The Master's (Calif.) 24, Ashford (Iowa) 18, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 20, Jamestown (N.D.) 15, Northwest (Wash.) 15, IU Kokomo 12, Bellevue (Neb.) 9, Mobile (Ala.) 5, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 7, Cornerstone (Mich.) 4, Peru State (Neb.) 3