Weekly Report No. 4

 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) Owns Third Coaches' Top 25 Volleyball Poll
● Following upsets, the third rating has shaken up, but the nation's No. 1 team remains unchanged as Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) sits strongly a top of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Volleyball Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Sunbirds were awarded 684 points in their 27th consecutive week at No. 1. The rest of the top five is rounded out by No. 2 Concordia University (Calif.), No. 3 California Baptist University, No. 4 Columbia College (Mo.) and No. 5 Georgetown College (Ky.).

Game of the Week
● It's a showdown between No. 1 and No. 2 as Fresno Pacific travels to Irvine, Calif., on Saturday to take on Concordia (Calif.). Not only does this game hold national implications, but in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings. These two powerhouses collided for the 2008 National Championship and Saturday's match marks the first meeting since Dec. 4, 2008. That match was pushed to five nail bitting sets with Fresno Pacific winning 24-26, 27-29, 25-21, 25-15, 15-11.
● Fresno Pacific holds a 51-2 all-time record against Concordia, including nine in-a-row. The last time Concordia beat Fresno Pacific was in the NAIA Quarterfinal round in 2004.
● The match can be found in three forms online: webcast, livestats and Twitter.

Around the Top 25 This Week
● This week there are 11 matchups that pit Top 25 teams head-to-head.
● The Bruin/Premier Volleyball Classic hosted by Bellevue (Neb.) will feature the 15th-ranked Bruins, along with, No. 5 Georgetown (Ky.), No. 6 Northwestern (Iowa), No. 23 Dordt (Iowa), MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and Bethany (Kan.). The stage for ranked teams to face each other is set, with Northwestern seeking to avenge last week's five-set loss to Georgetown.
● Other action around the Top 25 pits No. 14 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) against No. 24 Taylor (Ind.), No. 3 California Baptist hosting No. 18 Biola (Calif.) and No. 10 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) traveling to No. 25 Westmont (Calif.).

Top 25 Rewind
● During the week of Sept. 15-20, the Top 25 went 47-17 (.734), with 37 of those victories coming on 3-0 shutouts. To date, all teams that have been ranked among the Top 25 have combined for a record of 247-63 (.797) with 177 shutouts.
● A pair of top-10 clubs suffered defeat last week with No. 3 California Baptist knocking down No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene 3-0 on Sept. 15. The Sea Lions then dropped a 3-2 match to 10th-ranked Azusa Pacific (Calif.) on Saturday. Also on Saturday, fifth-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) went down 3-2 to No. 6 Georgetown (Ky.).
● Last week's Game of the Week between No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene and No. 10 Azusa Pacific went down to the wire, with Azusa Pacific rallying from two sets down for the 3-2 upset. It was one of two Top 25 matches pushed to five sets.

To read this week's entire release, please click here.