2018 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll —
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) lands No. 1 rating to open 2018 season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After claiming its first red banner, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) is the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders captured 11-of-14 first-place votes as well as 371 points.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
– Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) claimed its first national title in the team’s first ever trip to the national championship match on December 2, 2017.
– The Blue Raiders finished the 2017 season with a perfect 35-0 record and played only one, five-set match during the championship (vs Cornerstone (Mich.)) and three, four-set matches (vs Indiana Wesleyan, Eastern Oregon and Dordt (Iowa)). They played a total of 31-of-35 matches in three sets during the 2017 season.
– Lindsey Wilson will add four top newcomers in the 2018 season to complement a strong core of the 2018 National Championship team.
– New to the poll: Southern Oregon, Doane (Neb.) and Ottawa (Kan.)
– Lindsey Wilson holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 with 58 total appearances. The last 27-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 former member 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 rating) 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 appear on.
– Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
– The frequency of polls occurs 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.
2018 Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll – (Aug. 14)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) [11] | 35-0 | 371 |
| 2 | 2 | Dordt (Iowa) [3] | 34-8 | 364 |
| 3 | 4 | Missouri Baptist | 34-9 | 345 |
| 4 | 3 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 40-2 | 341 |
| 5 | 6 | Park (Mo.) | 32-4 | 328 |
| 6 | 5 | Westmont (Calif.) | 36-4 | 298 |
| 7 | 11 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 30-6 | 296 |
| 7 | 7 | College of Idaho | 28-7 | 296 |
| 9 | 10 | Grand View (Iowa) | 34-8 | 281 |
| 10 | 9 | Hastings (Neb.) | 28-3 | 277 |
| 11 | 13 | Midland (Neb.) | 21-11 | 248 |
| 12 | 14 | Montana Tech | 25-10 | 238 |
| 13 | NR | Southern Oregon | 15-11 | 214 |
| 14 | 18 | Columbia (Mo.) | 34-8 | 205 |
| 15 | 12 | Eastern Oregon | 24-11 | 193 |
| 16 | 17 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 28-8 | 181 |
| 17 | 20 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 22-6 | 175 |
| 18 | RV | Doane (Neb.) | 17-12 | 167 |
| 19 | 8 | Corban (Ore.) | 27-9 | 156 |
| 20 | 24 | Madonna (Mich.) | 29-7 | 130 |
| 21 | 19 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 30-13 | 123 |
| 22 | 22 | Indiana Wesleyan | 29-12 | 104 |
| 23 | RV | Ottawa (Kan.) | 30-13 | 103 |
| 24 | 21 | Northwest (Wash.) | 24-10 | 95 |
| 25 | 15 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 23-10 | 90 |
Dropped from the rankings: No. 23 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), No. 25 Saint Xavier (Ill.), No. 16 Morningside (Iowa)
Others receiving votes: Embry-Riddle 88, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 77, Campbellsville (Ky.) 44, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 37, Marian (Ind.) 27, Morningside 18, Kansas Wesleyan 11, William Woods (Mo.) 6, Reinhardt (Ga.) 5, Aquinas (Mich.) 4, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 4, Mobile (Ala.) 4, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 3, Vanguard (Calif.) 3, Lourdes (Ohio) 3
Source: National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics