2015 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches? Top 25 Poll ? No. 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Biola (Calif.) tops the third regular-season edition of the 2015 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The fourth installment will be released on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• Biola locks down the No. 1 ranking for the third-consecutive week and third time in program history, dating back to 2000. The Eagles claimed 16-of-20 possible first place votes and 557 total points. No. 2 Viterbo (Wis.) claimed the remaining four first-place votes.
• No. 16 Westmont (Calif.) and No. 21 (tied) Montana Tech highlighted the positive movement within the poll, as both programs jumped two places.
• Biola (Calif.), which has been ranked among the top 10 in 44-consecutive polls, hold the longest active streak in the Top 25 at 114-straight. Columbia (Mo.) is next with 103-consecutive mentions.
• Three newcomers joined the Top 25: No. 18 Concordia (Neb.), No. 23 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and No. 25 The Master’s (Calif.).
• Eleven of the 21 NAIA volleyball conferences are represented in the poll. The Great Plains Athletic Conference leads all leagues with six ranked programs – No. 4 Midland (Neb.), No. 11 Northwestern (Iowa), No. 14 Dordt (Iowa), Concordia, No. 21 Hastings (Neb.) and No. 24 Doane (Neb.)
• Former member Fresno Pacific (Calif.) has the most No. 1 appearances with 70, followed by National American (S.D.) with 33.
• Biola, Concordia (Calif.), Northwestern (Iowa) and Texas at Brownsville were ranked among the top 10 in every edition in 2014.
• Only one program 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 and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• 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”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
| RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2015 Record | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Biola (Calif.) (16) | 12-0 | 557 |
| 2 | 2 | Viterbo (Wis.) (4) | 13-0 | 545 |
| 3 | 3 | Missouri Baptist | 14-1 | 524 |
| 4 | 4 | Midland (Neb.) | 15-0 | 506 |
| 5 | 5 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 14-3 | 484 |
| 6 | 6 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 12-4 | 470 |
| 7 | 7 | Eastern Oregon | 11-1 | 453 |
| 8 | 8 | Southern Oregon | 13-0 | 434 |
| 9 | T9 | Evangel (Mo.) | 16-0 | 412 |
| 10 | T9 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 9-4 | 393 |
| 11 | 11 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 14-3 | 382 |
| 12 | 12 | Columbia (Mo.) | 10-4 | 368 |
| 13 | 13 | Coastal Georgia | 13-1 | 334 |
| 14 | 14 | Dordt (Iowa) | 11-1 | 330 |
| 15 | T16 | Madonna (Mich.) | 12-3 | 295 |
| 16 | 18 | Westmont (Calif.) | 11-2 | 292 |
| 17 | 15 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 12-2 | 250 |
| 18 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 14-3 | 231 |
| 19 | 19 | Park (Mo.) | 7-4 | 210 |
| 20 | 21 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 13-3 | 197 |
| T21 | 23 | Montana Tech | 13-6 | 186 |
| T21 | 20 | Hastings (Neb.) | 10-6 | 186 |
| 23 | RV | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 11-6 | 171 |
| 24 | 24 | Doane (Neb.) | 10-6 | 108 |
| 25 | RV | The Master’s (Calif.) | 11-5 | 92 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Indiana Wesleyan (No. 16); Grand View (Iowa) (No. 22); Great Falls (Mont.) (No. 25).
Others receiving votes: Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 82; Carroll (Mont.) 69; Indiana Wesleyan 66; Grand View (Iowa) 57; Cornerstone (Mich.) 46; Oklahoma City 43; Great Falls (Mont.) 40; St. Thomas (Fla.) 34; Cumberlands (Ky.) 14; Ottawa (Kan.) 12; Mobile (Ala.) 11; Jamestown (N.D.) 10; Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 10; College of Idaho 7; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 7; Bellevue (Neb.) 5; Davenport (Mich.) 3.
^Based off Coaches’ Poll from Sept. 14, 2015
