No movement with top-five teams, shuffling among rest of Top 25

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After two weeks of action, the nation's top-five teams remain the same in the first edition of the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced by the NAIA Tuesday afternoon. Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) (8-0) enters its 36^th-straight week as No. 1, securing all 23 possible first-place votes and capturing 653 points. Fellow Golden State Athletic Conference schools, Concordia University (Calif.) and California Baptist University, come in at No. 2 and 3, respectively, while Lee University (Tenn.) and Northwestern College (Iowa) remain No. 4 and 5.

Beyond the top five, many teams find themselves in a new position in this week's poll. Four schools are making their season debuts in the Top 25, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) at No. 13, Westminster College (Utah) at No.20, Oklahoma Baptist University at No. 22 and Malone University (Ohio) at No. 24. Embry-Riddle (Fla.) makes the biggest leap out of the four newcomers moving up 16 spots, while No. 12 Lubbock Christian (Texas) climbs 10 spots and makes the biggest jump of the returning Top 25 teams.

Fresno Pacific (8-0) continues to cruise along as the nation's No. 1 team. The Sunbirds added four wins to their record this weekend at the Asics-Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament in Irvine Calif., defeating No. 20 Westminster 25-22, 25-17, 25-13 and Carroll College (Mont.) 25-12, 25-20, 25-12, who was ranked in the Preseason Top 25 Poll. Fresno Pacific also recorded victories over Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) 25-17, 33-31, 25-21, who is also receiving votes in this week's ratings, and NCAA Division II opponent California-State Dominguez Hills. No. 13 Embry-Riddle is the only team to have taken the Sunbirds past the third set, pushing the defending champions into five, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 26-28, 15-13, on Aug. 21.

With 632 points, Concordia holds steady at No. 2. Returning NAIA All-American senior Amber Ridens helped the Eagles (8-0) coast through their own Asics-Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament. Ridens finished the weekend with 5.08 kills per game and a .348 hitting percentage as Concordia defeated Westminster (Utah) 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, Rocky Mountain 19-25, 25-12, 25-14, 25-10, Jamestown (N.D.) 25-14, 25-20, 25-22 and NCAA Division II opponent Colorado Christian 25-14, 25-22, 25-17.

California Baptist (12-0) fills the No. 3 spot after totaling 611 points. The Lancers also headed to Irvine for one last tune-up before GSAC play begins on Tuesday. California Baptist came out of the weekend with four straight-set victories defeating Jamestown 25-15, 25-15, 25-17, Montana Tech 25-16, 25-20, 25-16, Great Falls (Mont.) 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 and Colorado Christian 25-16, 25-15, 25-22. For the tournament, the Lancers held their opponents to a .088 hitting percentage and registered a .326 percentage with their offensive attack.

No. 4 Lee captured 590 points in this week's poll after winning two big matchups with Top-25 opponents at the Red Raider Classic in Orange City, Iowa, on Aug. 27. The Lady Flames beat then-No. 6 Biola (Calif.) in the NAIA Match of the Week 25-18, 25-14, 18-25, 23-25, 15-13, and then-No. 22 Doane (Neb.) in three sets, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15. Lee is currently 7-0 on the season.

Northwestern is off to an 8-0 start and keeps control of its No. 5 ranking. The Red Raiders are coming off of a four-match weekend at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Classic where they grabbed wins from Dakota State (S.D.) 25-14, 25-18, 25-16 and Waldorf (Iowa) 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 25-15 on Friday. In tournament play on Saturday, Northwestern defeated Iowa Wesleyan 25-5, 25-9, 19-25, 25-15 and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 25-21, 25-13, 25-12. Head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch and his Red Raiders begin conference play Tuesday at home against Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.).

Fifteen conferences are represented in the Top 25 with the Golden State Athletic Conference leading all leagues with five schools. All five of GSAC's schools rank in the top 10, which include Fresno Pacific, Concordia, California Baptist, No. 7 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and No. 10 Biola. The Great Plains Athletic Conference has the second-most schools present in the Top 25 with three. The GPAC is represented by Northwestern, No. 17 Doane (Neb.) and No. 25 Morningside (Iowa).

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be announced on Sept. 14.

For more information on NAIA volleyball, click here.

2010 Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Week 1

Others receiving votes:

Caroll (Mont.) 98; Lindenwood (Mo.) 90; Madonna (Mich.) 82; Mobile (Ala.) 70; Westmont (Calif.) 66; Indiana-East 41; Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 34; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 25; Dordt (Iowa) 23; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 22; Ozarks (Mo.) 19; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 18; Baker (Kan.) 6; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 3; Goshen (Ind.) 3; Campbellsville (Ky.) 3; Walsh (Ohio) 1; Friends (Kan.) 1; Union (Ky.) 1; Jamestown (N.D.) 1; Aquinas (Mich.) 1; Northwestern Ohio 1

Source: NAIA Sports Information