LEXINGTON, Ky. -- With the release of this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division III Top 25 rankings, the SCAC is in a dominant position not achieved by another conference in more than a decade.
For the first time since 2005, a single conference has three teams ranked in the top five of the AVCA weekly poll.
Southwestern remained in second for the second consecutive week while Colorado College improved two places to third, and Trinity jumped from seventh to fifth.
Wittenberg (Ohio) moved up two places to take over the top spot in the poll.
All three SCAC teams swept their respective matches this past week and collectively posted a 13-0 mark. Southwestern (12-0) and Colorado College (11-0) are still perfect on the season as the Tigers beat previous top-ranked and undefeated Calvin by a 3-0 score on Saturday while the Pirates knocked off #11 Wisconsin-Whitewater (3-1) - also on Saturday.
Trinity went 4-0 at its annual Fall Classic, which also included a victory over #11 Wisconsin-Whitewater (3-0).
The SCAC is just the second Division III conference in the history of the AVCA rankings (which dates back to 1992) to position three of its member institutions in the top five in any one Top 25 poll. The last time one conference had three teams in the top five of the AVCA rankings was November 15, 2005 when the University Athletic Association had Emory at No. 1, Washington (Mo.) at No. 3, and NYU at No. 5. That season, the UAA had those three in the top five on seven different occasions. Prior to that season, a conference had positioned three of its teams in the top five only one other time - the UAA again in the final poll of the 2003 season.
AVCA DIVISION III COACHES TOP 25 WEEK #3 POLL: SEPTEMBER 19, 2017
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Points Adjusted |
2017 Record |
Previous Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wittenberg (28) | 1615 | 9-0 | 3 |
| 2 | Southwestern (Texas) (30) | 1590 | 12-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Colorado College (9) | 1552 | 11-0 | 5 |
| 4 | Emory | 1503 | 8-1 | 4 |
| 5 | Trinity (Texas) | 1299 | 10-2 | 7 |
| 6 | Calvin | 1212 | 8-3 | 1 |
| 7 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 1181 | 8-4 | 8 |
| 8 | Millikin | 1166 | 8-1 | 9 |
| 9 | Juniata | 1023 | 7-3 | 6 |
| 10 | Gustavus Adolphus | 999 | 12-1 | 14 |
| 11 | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 916 | 7-3 | 11 |
| 12 | Northwestern (Minn.) | 905 | 9-3 | 10 |
| 13 | Carnegie-Mellon | 831 | 11-0 | 16 |
| 14 | La Verne | 796 | 8-1 | 15 |
| 15 | MIT | 574 | 11-0 | 20 |
| 16 | Texas-Dallas | 537 | 8-3 | 13 |
| 17 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 502 | 13-2 | 25 |
| 18 | Washington-St. Louis | 449 | 6-5 | 12 |
| 19 | Illinois Wesleyan | 376 | 6-4 | NR |
| 20 | Hope | 345 | 8-4 | 18 |
| 21 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | 332 | 11-2 | 23 |
| 22 | Ohio Northern | 268 | 9-3 | NR |
| 23 | Cal Lutheran | 215 | 4-7 | 17 |
| 24 | Christopher Newport | 201 | 9-2 | 24 |
| 25 | Cornell (Iowa) | 170 | 11-2 | NR |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Johns Hopkins 157; Johnson & Wales (RI) 121; Eastern 109; Wisconsin-La Crosse 84; Dubuque 81; Pacific Lutheran 79; Stevenson 68; Tufts 49; Stevens 48; Mary Washington 44; Aurora 34; Chicago 32; Whittier 28; Randolph-Macon 27; Washington & Lee 25; Chapman 23; Bethel (Minn.) 21; Wisconsin-Oshkosh 21; Mount Union 20; Scranton 20; Gettysburg 19; Elmhurst 17; Luther 16; Wartburg 14; Ithaca 13; Berry 10
Nine teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 37 combined points.
Dropped Out: Eastern 19; Wisconsin-La Crosse 21; Mary Washington 22
Next Poll: September 26
