2017 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll —
By Katie Green, Manager of Athletics Communications and Media
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After closing the 2016 season with their first banner, Hastings (Neb.) claims the No. 1 ranking in the 2017 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, the national office announced on Tuesday. The Broncos swept the field with all 20 first-place votes.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
-With all 20 first-place votes and 560 points, Hastings (Neb.) tallied its second No. 1 ranking in the Coache’s Top 25 Preseason poll after claiming the red banner in 2016 in a five-set win over Great Plains Athletic Conference-rival Dordt (Iowa).
-Hastings (Neb.) returns a First Team All-American in senior Katie Placke as well as NAIA Libero of the Year senior Jill Bax. With the loss of First Team All-American Logan Drueppel, the Broncos look forward to incoming freshman such as Elise Baumann to help get the team back to the championship. The team opens the season in Denver, Colo., at the Johnson and Wales Tournament.
– No. 13 Northwestern (Iowa), No. 16 Cornerstone (Mich.) and No. 25 College of Idaho made the jump into the top 25. All three teams were receiving votes in the 2016 Coaches’ Top 25 Postseason Poll.
-Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 with 49 total appearance. The last 21 consecutive appearances have been in the top five.
-There has only been one program that has been able to maintain the No. 1 ranking for an entire season, with Fresno Pacific (Calif.) 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, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
-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”
-Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) for the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
-For the complete ratings calendar, click here.
| RANK | WEEK | SCHOOL (FIRST PLACE VOTES) | 2016 Record | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Hastings (Neb.) (20) | 33-3 | 560 |
| 2 | 2 | Dordt (Iowa) | 28-8 | 539 |
| 3 | 4 | Park (Mo.) | 36-4 | 506 |
| 4 | 3 | Midland (Neb.) | 31-4 | 505 |
| 5 | 5 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 35-2 | 499 |
| 6 | 9 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 42-3 | 463 |
| 7 | 7 | Westmont (Calif.) | 34-2 | 442 |
| 8 | 8 | Columbia (Mo.) | 30-12 | 439 |
| 9 | 16 | Corban (Ore.) | 25-8 | 417 |
| 10 | 10 | Grand View (Iowa) | 31-8 | 406 |
| 11 | 6 | Eastern Oregon | 32-3 | 381 |
| 12 | 13 | Missouri Baptist | 21-11 | 355 |
| 13 | RV | Northwestern (Iowa) | 18-17 | 316 |
| 14 | 15 | Montana Tech | 25-11 | 285 |
| 15 | 12 | Doane (Neb.) | 25-10 | 270 |
| 16 | RV | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 32-9 | 265 |
| 17 | 20 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 26-14 | 261 |
| 18 | 17 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 28-9 | 247 |
| 19 | 22 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 28-11 | 241 |
| 20 | 23 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 32-12 | 233 |
| 21 | 19 | Indiana Wesleyan | 35-4 | 220 |
| 22 | 18 | Lourdes (Ohio) | 27-7 | 182 |
| 23 | 21 | Carroll (Mont.) | 24-8 | 175 |
| 24 | 25 | Madonna (Mich.) | 31-10 | 108 |
| 25 | RV | College of Idaho | 20-10 | 100 |
Dropped from the rankings: Morningside (Iowa), Biola (Calif.) and Oklahoma City
Others receiving votes: Morningside (Iowa) 95, Union (Ky.) 75, Coastal Georgia 55, Ottawa (Kan.) 46, Texas Wesleyan 43, Northwest (Wash.) 34, Oklahoma City 30, Missouri Valley 27, St. Francis (Ill.) 26, IU Kokomo 25, Campbellsville (Ky.) 24, Marian (Ind.) 18, Mobile (Ala.) 3
^Top 25 ranking in Coaches’ Poll on Aug. 15, 2017