2016 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Postseason (Dec. 7)
EOU No. 6, CRB No. 16, CI RV, NU RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the heels of its first-ever national championship, Hastings (Neb.) claimed the No. 1 ranking in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Wednesday.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
- Hastings (Neb.) (33-3) received all 20 first place votes and 560 points. This is the first No. 1 ranking in program history. Hastings posted a five-set win over fellow Great Plains Athletic Conference-rival Dordt (Iowa) in the final of the 2016 NAIA Volleyball National Championship.
- It was just the third five-set match on the season for the Broncos, who had dropped just two sets in the previous six matches at the national championship. Dordt won the first two sets (25-23, 25-15) before Hastings battled back to win the final three sets (25-16, 25-22, 15-6).
- Dordt (28-8) improved six spots to the No. 2 position after its runner-up finish. The ranking is the highest in program history and best since holding the No. 3 spot in the Sept. 28, 2004 poll. The Defenders earned 542 points after playing in its first-ever national championship match. It was the third meeting this season between the two teams, with each winning on the opposing team’s home floor.
- The Great Plains Athletic Conference completed a clean sweep of the top three spots as Midland (Neb.) moved up two places to the No. 3 ranking. The Warriors (31-4) advanced to the semifinals of the national championship before falling to Dordt in four sets. All four of the Warriors’ losses in 2016 came to Hastings and Dordt (two to each).
- Eastern Oregon and Madonna (Mich.) were the only teams not to have its ranking change between the end of the regular season and the postseason. Eastern Oregon maintained the No. 6 spot in the poll after falling to Hastings in the quarterfinal round of the national championship, while Madonna held the final spot in the top 25.
- Columbia (Mo.) and Montana Tech shared the honor of biggest improvement in the final poll of the campaign, each improving nine positions. Three other teams also saw positive movement of at least five places: Dordt, Biola (Calif.) and Corban (Ore.).
- Morningside (Iowa) was the only team unranked in the final regular season poll to move into the top 25, claiming the No. 24 position. Conversely, Cornerstone (Mich.) was the only team to fall out of the top 25 after holding the No. 20 position prior to the national championship Opening Round.
- Overall, 11 of the 20 conferences are represented in this edition of the poll. The Great Plains Athletic Conference leads the way with five teams represented – Hastings, Dordt, Midland, Doane (Neb.) and Morningside.
- Four teams held the No. 1 ranking during the 2016 season: Columbia, Midland, Westmont (Calif.) and Hastings.
- Biola holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 with 118-straight mentions.
- 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 – Postseason (Dec. 7)
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK^
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
Record
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
| 1 |
3 |
Hastings (Neb.) (20) |
33-3 |
560 |
| 2 |
8 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
28-8 |
542 |
| 3 |
5 |
Midland (Neb.) |
31-4 |
516 |
| 4 |
7 |
Park (Mo.) |
36-4 |
513 |
| 5 |
4 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
35-2 |
466 |
| 6 |
6 |
Eastern Oregon |
32-3 |
463 |
| 7 |
1 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
34-2 |
462 |
| 8 |
17 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
30-12 |
447 |
| 9 |
2 |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
42-3 |
414 |
| 10 |
8 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
31-8 |
393 |
| 11 |
12 |
Oklahoma City |
32-5 |
368 |
| 12 |
15 |
Doane (Neb.) |
25-10 |
338 |
| 13 |
14 |
Missouri Baptist |
29-11 |
333 |
| 14 |
21 |
Biola (Calif.) |
26-11 |
329 |
| 15 |
24 |
Montana Tech |
25-11 |
328 |
| 16 |
23 |
Corban (Ore.) |
25-8 |
323 |
| 17 |
13 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
28-9 |
254 |
| 18 |
10 |
Lourdes (Ohio) |
27-7 |
245 |
| 19 |
16 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
36-4 |
236 |
| 20 |
19 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
26-14 |
227 |
| 21 |
18 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
24-8 |
189 |
| 22 |
11 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
28-11 |
180 |
| 23 |
22 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
32-12 |
177 |
| 24 |
NR |
Morningside (Iowa) |
20-15 |
115 |
| 25 |
25 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
31-10 |
112 |
Dropped from the rankings: Cornerstone (Mich.) (No. 20).
Others receiving votes: Union (Ky.) 95, St. Francis (Ill.) 61, Tabor (Kan.) 59, College of Idaho 44, Mobile (Ala.) 36, Cornerstone (Mich.) 36, Northwestern (Iowa) 33, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 14, Coastal Georgia 11, Northwest (Wash.) 10, Campbellsville (Ky.) 3, Webber International (Fla.) 3.
^Reflects ranking in Coaches’ Poll on Nov. 14, 2016