2016 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 4
EOU No. 7, CRB No. 22, CI RV, NU RV
By Nikki Sherrill, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There is a new No. 1 in NAIA volleyball, as Westmont (Calif.) earned 14 first-place votes and 578 total points to capture its first ranking in the top spot. The Warriors are perfect so far this season with a 25-0 record, and knocked off previously undefeated Midland (Neb.) from the No. 1 ranking after it suffered its first loss of the year. The fifth Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll will be released Nov. 1.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
- For the first time in program history, the Warriors of Westmont (Calif.) are the No. 1 team in the Top 25. Westmont moved up from No. 2 after Midland (Neb.) snapped its undefeated streak. Midland dropped to No. 3 in this week’s edition.
- Hastings (Neb.) comes in at No. 2 and captured the rest of the first-place votes. The last time the Broncos were ranked in this spot was back in 2000 during the preseason poll. Hastings sits with a 19-2 record and is the only team to defeat Midland this season.
- This year, three different teams have taken the No. 1 ranking, with Midland holding steady the longest at three-straight polls.
- The top 10 has once again shown little movement, with only Dordt (Iowa) moving in at No. 10, and Grand View (Iowa) dropping to No. 11 this week.
- No. 15 Indiana Wesleyan made the biggest jump forward, moving up eight spots. The rest of the positive movement finds six teams sliding one spot up in the rankings – No. 1 Westmont, No. 2 Hastings, No. 6 Park (Mo.), No. 9 Lourdes (Ohio), No. 10 Dordt and No. 12 Oklahoma City.
- No. 19 Biola (Calif.) is the program that saw the most backwards movement in the rankings, as the Eagles fell back three spots.
- Three programs have fallen out of the rankings this week – Northwest (Wash.), St. Thomas (Fla.) and Peru State (Neb.).
- Just as many teams have crawled into the poll, with No. 23 Montana Tech, No. 24 Webber International (Fla.) and No. 25 Columbia (Mo.) making their way forward.
- Westmont is the lone team remaining without a blemish this season, as it has gone 25-0 this year. The Warriors are now three wins away from tying the program record for most regular season victories.
- Overall, 12 of the 21 conferences are represented throughout the Top 25. The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), North Star Athletic Association and American Midwest Conference each bring three teams to the poll. The GPAC has two programs in the top three.
- For the first poll since preseason, the 2015 national champion, Columbia (Mo.), is back in the Top 25 this week at No. 25. Missouri Baptist, last season’s runner-up, stays at No. 14 this edition.
- Former member Fresno Pacific (Calif.) has the most No. 1 appearances with 70, followed by former member National American (S.D.) with 33.
- Biola, which had been ranked among the top 10 in 41-consecutive polls, holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 at 116-straight appearances.
- 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.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
- 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”
- Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) for the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
- For the complete ratings calendar, click here.
2016 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll-No. 4 (Oct. 18)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2016 Record |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Westmont (Calif.) (14) |
25-0 |
578 |
| 2 |
3 |
Hastings (Neb.) (7) |
19-2 |
575 |
| 3 |
1 |
Midland (Neb.) |
20-1 |
558 |
| 4 |
4 |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
28-2 |
534 |
| 5 |
5 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
20-1 |
521 |
| 6 |
7 |
Park (Mo.) |
24-1 |
493 |
| 7 |
6 |
Eastern Oregon |
21-2 |
475 |
| 8 |
8 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
23-4 |
441 |
| 9 |
10 |
Lourdes (Ohio) |
17-3 |
424 |
| 10 |
11 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
15-5 |
420 |
| 11 |
9 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
20-6 |
417 |
| 12 |
13 |
Oklahoma City |
22-3 |
382 |
| 13 |
11 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
19-6 |
345 |
| 14 |
14 |
Missouri Baptist |
23-6 |
332 |
| 15 |
23 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
25-2 |
325 |
| 16 |
15 |
Doane (Neb.) |
19-5 |
324 |
| 17 |
17 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
17-4 |
281 |
| 18 |
18 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
24-5 |
273 |
| 19 |
16 |
Biola (Calif.) |
17-8 |
251 |
| 20 |
19 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
17-8 |
232 |
| 21 |
20 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
19-8 |
220 |
| 22 |
22 |
Corban (Ore.) |
15-5 |
186 |
| 23 |
NR |
Montana Tech |
15-7 |
125 |
| 24 |
NR |
Webber International (Fla.) |
19-4 |
115 |
| 25 |
NR |
Columbia (Mo.) |
15-10 |
109 |
Dropped from the rankings: No. 21 St. Thomas (Fla.); No. 24 Northwest (Wash.); No. 25 Peru State (Neb.)
Others receiving votes: College of Idaho 105; Northwest (Wash.) 103; Ottawa (Kan.) 73; St. Thomas (Fla.) 66; Central Methodist (Mo.) 38; Cumberlands (Ky.) 35; Northwestern (Iowa) 24; Cornerstone (Mich.) 20; Coastal Georgia 13; The Master’s (Calif.) 11; Peru State (Neb.) 7.
^Reflects ranking in Poll No. 3