LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released its first regular season poll of the 2017 season, and the results of that polling represented a historical achievement for the SCAC.
For the first time in conference history, the league has three teams ranked in the top 10 - Southwestern University is third, Colorado College is sixth and Trinity University is 10th.
The Pirates, who entered the preseason ranked fifth, swept through the University of California-Santa Cruz Slug Fest with a 4-0 mark, which included a 3-0 victory over then #21 Elmhurst. The CC Tigers also improved two places from its preseason No. 8 ranking after a 4-0 sweep at their own Colorado College Classic, which included a 3-2 victory over Augustana after rallying from down 2-1. The TU Tigers jumped from 14th to 10th after a 3-1 week, which included victories over #23 Wisconsin-Oshkosh and #6 California Lutheran. Trinity's only loss came to top-ranked Calvin College.
Historically one of the best Division III volleyball conferenences in the nation, the SCAC has never had three teams ranked in the AVCA Top 10 at the same time. Prior to this week's AVCA rankings, the closest the league has come to having three teams in the top 10 was the final poll of the 2009 season when Colorado College finished seventh, Trinity eighth and Southwestern 13th.
Colorado College and Southwestern both hosts home tournaments next weekend while Trinity heads to Thousand Oaks, Calif., to participate in the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational where the Tigers will face-off against two Top 25 teams - host #11 California Lutheran and #9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
AVCA DIVISION III COACHES TOP 25 WEEK #1 POLL: SEPTEMBER 5, 2017
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Points Adjusted |
2017 Record |
Previous Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calvin (67) | 1675 | 4-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Northwestern (Minn.) | 1526 | 4-0 | 4 |
| 3 | Southwestern (Texas) | 1474 | 4-0 | 5 |
| 4 | Wittenberg | 1350 | 3-0 | 11 |
| 5 | Emory | 1341 | 2-1 | 2 |
| 6 | Colorado College | 1222 | 4-0 | 8 |
| 7 | Mary Washington | 1202 | 4-0 | 9 |
| 8 | Washington-St. Louis | 1109 | 2-1 | 3 |
| 9 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 1056 | 3-1 | 7 |
| 10 | Trinity (Texas) | 1036 | 3-1 | 14 |
| 11 | Cal Lutheran | 1022 | 2-2 | 6 |
| 12 | Millikin | 934 | 4-0 | 17 |
| 13 | Juniata | 913 | 4-0 | 13 |
| 14 | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 863 | 3-0 | 12 |
| 15 | La Verne | 588 | 4-0 | 25 |
| 16 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 571 | 4-0 | 18 |
| 17 | Eastern | 519 | 3-1 | 16 |
| 18 | Texas-Dallas | 487 | 2-2 | 10 |
| 19 | Cornell (Iowa) | 407 | 4-0 | NR |
| 20 | Gustavus Adolphus | 393 | 4-0 | 24 |
| 21 | Hope | 347 | 2-2 | 15 |
| 22 | Elmhurst | 308 | 3-1 | 21 |
| 23 | Tufts | 284 | 0-0 | 19 |
| 24 | Carnegie-Mellon | 240 | 4-0 | NR |
| 25 | Ohio Northern | 135 | 3-1 | 22 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Wisconsin-Oshkosh 106; DePauw 98; Christopher Newport 69; Hendrix 64; Johnson & Wales (RI) 57; Springfield 54; MIT 51; Wisconsin-Stevens Point 43; Bethel (Minn.) 37; Randolph-Macon 36; Johns Hopkins 23; Chicago 20; Pacific Lutheran 20; Stevenson 18; Wartburg 17; Stevens 7; Dominican 6; Texas-Tyler 3; Ramapo 2
Seven teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 26 combined points.
Dropped Out: Wisconsin-Oshkosh 23; Hendrix 20
Next Poll: September 12