Nov. 9, 2010

Contact: Adam Samson, NAIA Sports Information and Media Services Intern, asamson@naia.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the second-consecutive week, Lee (Tenn.) is in command of the No. 1 ranking, tallying 21 of the possible 24 first-place votes and 682 points in the 10th Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The top-five teams remained the same, with No. 2 Texas at Brownsville registering three first-place votes to wrap up 664 points. The Lady Flames and Scorpions are followed by No. 3 Fresno Pacific (Calif.), No. 4 Northwestern (Iowa) and No. 5 California Baptist.

The final poll for the 2010 season will be released Sunday by 1 p.m. CST, following the completion of the conference/independent/unaffiliated tournaments. To track the conference/independent/unaffiliated tournaments, click here. The 36-team field for the 2010 Volleyball National Championship will be announced Sunday by 8 p.m. CST.

The Top 25 saw a few minor adjustments from a week ago. Six teams changed rank from Nos. 18-24. No. 18 Rocky Mountain (Mont.), No. 21 Evangel (Mo.), No. 22 Lubbock Christian (Texas) and No. 23 Bellevue (Neb.) each improved one spot, while No. 19 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) dropped one position. Madonna (Mich.) was previously No. 21, but fell to No. 24.

After reaching the top spot for the first time in program history last week, No. 1 Lee (32-0, 10-0 Southern States Athletic Conference) capped off the regular-season with a 25-10, 25-16, 25-16 sweep of Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) at home on Nov. 5. With the victory, head coach Andrea Hudson led the Lady Flames to the program's second undefeated record in regular season and conference action. The victory was powered by junior Arlene Ferreira, who hit .483 and had 14 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Senior Kayla Carlisle added nine kills, three blocks and a .467 attack percentage. Lee begins SSAC Tournament play with Faulkner (Ala.) on Friday at 12 p.m.

For the third time in four years, No. 2 Texas at Brownsville has reached the 30-victory mark. The Scorpions (32-1, 10-0 Red River Athletic Conference) finished up RRAC regular-season action with wins over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) and Bacone (Okla.) on Nov. 4 and 6, respectively. UTB concluded the regular season by taking down No. 20 Oklahoma Baptist in a non-conference matchup on Nov. 6. In the 25-17, 25-19, 25-27, 25-20 win over Oklahoma Baptist, the Scorpions' defense came up big, with seven players reaching double-figure digs. Ana Guerra took over for the Scorpions with 16 kills, 13 digs, seven assisted blocks and a .519 attack percentage.

Playing in its second-straight NAIA Match of the Week, No. 3 Fresno Pacific (26-2, 17-1 Golden State Athletic Conference) encountered another opponent that would halt its remaining win streaks. After keeping the first set close, No. 5 California Baptist ran away with a 26-24, 25-16, 25-17 sweep of the Sunbirds on their home court. As a team, the Sunbirds hit .178 and were below .100 in the last two sets. Fresno Pacific's first GSAC loss broke a 122 home-match winning streak and a stretch of 69 straight wins against league teams. The Sunbirds will look to rebound and clinch the conference title with wins over The Master's (Calif.) on Thursday and Westmont (Calif.) on Saturday.

The fourth-ranked Red Raiders joined Lee as the only other program to enter conference tournament action unbeaten. Northwestern (32-0, 16-0 Great Plains Athletic Conference) racked up 623 points this week, nearly making a move to the No. 3 position. The Red Raiders finished up GPAC play with a 25-21, 25-17, 26-24 victory over Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Nov. 3. Capturing its third conference regular-season title, Northwestern earned the top seed for the GPAC tournament that got underway on Nov. 6. The Red Raiders will take on Midland (Neb.) in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday.

Making some noise at No. 5 is California Baptist (28-4, 15-3 GSAC). For the second-straight week, the Lancers defeated the nation's third-ranked team. California Baptist took No. 3 Fresno Pacific by surprise and snapped its eight-match losing streak to the Sunbirds. The last time the Lancers defeated Fresno Pacific was in 2006 in five sets. California Baptist's Ingrid Carmona led the way, hitting .421 and slamming home 20 kills for the match. The Lancers will have one more test at home when they face No. 11 Concordia (Calif.) on Tuesday.

Thirteen conferences are represented in the Top 25, with the GSAC leading all leagues with six ranked schools. Four of the six rank in the top-10 including: Fresno Pacific, California Baptist, No. 7 Biola (Calif.) and No. 8 Azusa Pacific (Calif.). The GPAC has the second-most schools present with three: Northwestern, No. 15 Dordt and No. 17 Doane (Neb.).

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups.

For more information on NAIA volleyball, click here.

2010 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Week 10

Others receiving votes: Indiana Wesleyan 108; Viterbo (Wis.) 70; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 68; Georgetown (Ky.) 61; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 33; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 30; Asbury (Ky.) 24; Grand View (Iowa) 16; Aquinas (Mich.) 10; Indiana East 9; Shorter (Ga.) 7; Walsh (Ohio) 5; Westmont (Calif.) 5; Shawnee State (Ohio) 3; Campbellsville (Ky.) 1; Carroll (Mont.) 1; Oklahoma City 1; College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 1.