Sept. 14, 2010

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 1 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) remains unscathed and undefeated, while spending its 37th-straight week in the top spot in the Tachikara-NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the NAIA. The Sunbirds (10-0) received all 24 possible first-place votes in the poll for 684 points. Golden State Athletic Conference representative California Baptist and Southern States Athletic Conference power Lee (Tenn.) move up to Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, passing up Concordia (Calif.), who dropped two spots to No. 4. Rounding out the top five is an undefeated Northwestern (Iowa) squad that has started the season 13-0.

Sixteen teams find themselves in new positions in the second edition of the poll, including first-time appearances from Dordt (Iowa) and Westmont (Calif.) at Nos. 24 and 25, respectively, and the return of Carroll (Mont.) at No. 22. College of Idaho slipped four spots to No. 18, moving the most out of any team in the Top 25. Dropping out of the Top 25 are Morningside (Iowa), Westminster (Utah) and Shawnee State (Ohio). The most noticeable shake up comes in the top five after Concordia was upset by No. 9 Biola (Calif.) 25-17, 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 13-15 on Sept. 11.

Fresno Pacific has extended its consecutive poll streak to 122 straight occurrences since 2000. Head coach Dennis Janzen has his Sunbirds flying high entering GSAC play as they easily handled San Diego Christian (Calif.) 25-14, 25-16, 25-16 and knocked off Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 25-21, 25-23, 25-14. Fresno Pacific leads the NAIA in kills per game with 15.0 and also stands second in assists per game (14.44) and third in hitting percentage (.360). The Sunbirds next matchup is on the road Tuesday evening against a rising No. 9 Biola squad.

Sliding up to No. 2 with 662 points is California Baptist. At 14-0, the Lancers survived a 25-27, 25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 15-6 victory over No. 25 Westmont on Sept. 7 and then served a 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 win over then-No. 7 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) in the NAIA Match of the Week on Sept. 7. Junior middle blocker Bree Rauschenbach led the way with five service aces and 10 kills to give Azusa Pacific its first defeat of the season.

Lee (10-0) continues to move its way to the top, earning 626 points and a No. 3 ranking. The No. 3 ranking is the highest ranking for the Lady Flames since finishing the 2004 season at No. 2. Taking the court at their own Lee Invitational Sept. 10-11, the Lady Flames had no problem sweeping SCAD-Savannah (Ga.) 25-14, 25-15, 25-12, Union (Tenn.) 25-12, 25-13, 25-18 and Belhaven (Miss.) 25-17, 25-8, 25-8.

Concordia, who racked up 625 points this week, suffered its first loss of the season against a top-10 squad in Biola on Sept. 11, moving the Eagles to 9-1 on the season. Despite the defeat, Amber Ridens put up a double-double with 21 kills and 11 digs, while Brooke Marino was one dig shy of a double-double with 15 kills and 9 digs. Second-year head coach Kyle Kvasnicka will look to rebound with a Top-25 matchup on Tuesday against Westmont (Calif.).

With four wins over the weekend, Northwestern kept its perfect start alive and earned 600 points to stay at No. 5. The most impressive win of weekend for the Red Raiders came in a 27-29, 25-13, 25-16, 19-25, 15-8 victory over then-No. 22 Oklahoma Baptist. In the five-set match against OBU, Northwestern's Kaitlin Beaver registered 58 assists, 11 digs and 10 kills and Hillary Hanno also recorded a double-double with 20 kills, 13 digs and three blocks. Upcoming matches for the Red Raiders this week include Briar Cliff (Iowa) on Wednesday and No. 17 Doane (Neb.) on Saturday.

Fifteen conferences are represented in the Top 25 with the Golden State Athletic Conference leading all leagues with six schools. Five of GSAC's schools rank in the top 10, which include Fresno Pacific, Concordia, California Baptist, Azusa Pacific and Biola. The Great Plains Athletic Conference has the second-most schools present in the Top 25 with three. The GPAC is represented by Northwestern, Doane and Dordt.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be announced on Sept. 21.

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2010 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Week 2

Others receiving votes:

Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 92; Lindenwood (Mo.) 76; Morningside (Iowa) 75; Madonna (Mich.) 52; Indiana-East 42; Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 36; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 30; Westminster (Utah) 28; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 17; Ozarks (Mo.) 15; Walsh (Ohio) 7; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7; Shawnee State (Ohio) 6; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 4; Baker (Kan.) 3; Northwestern Ohio 3; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 1; St. Xavier (Ill.) 1; Vanguard (Calif.) 1; Grand View (Iowa) 1