Defending National Champion Opens 2025 Season at No. 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Indiana Wesleyan headlines the Top 25 Poll to kick off the 2025 women’s volleyball season after successfully defending its title in 2024. The Wildcats also received all 19 possible first-place votes.
The 2025 women’s volleyball season officially starts on Friday, Aug. 15, when teams will begin their pursuit of winning the Battle for the Red Banner in Sioux City, Iowa.
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1. Indiana Wesleyan, 540 points
2024 Record: 37-2 Week 1: Aug. 21-22 home tournament, facing MidAmerican Nazarene (Kan.), Columbia (Mo.), and Concordia (Neb.) Stat to know: received 19 first-place votes. Enters the season with a 34-game win streak. Won second consecutive title. |
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2. Bellevue (Neb.), 522 points
2024 Record: 32-5 Week 1: Aug. 22 Hope International Slam, facing College of Idaho, Southern Oregon, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) Stat to know: is in the Top 5 of active ratings streaks with 44 consecutive appearances in the ratings prior to today’s poll |
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3. Corban (Ore.), 493 points
2024 Record: 27-6 Week 1: Aug. 21-22 MBU Spartan Invitational, facing St. Thomas (Fla.), Viterbo (Wis.), Midland (Neb.) & Missouri Baptist Stat to know: opens season with a roster boasting six key returners, as the team only graduated three starters after 2024 season |
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4. Concordia (Neb.), 473 points
2024 Record: 27-4 Week 1: Aug. 16 Home vs York (Neb.); Aug. 21-22 Indiana Wesleyan Tournament, facing Columbia (Mo.), MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Indiana Wesleyan Stat to know: returns two NAIA All-Americans in Ashley Keck & Gabi Nordaker |
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5. Eastern Oregon, 459 points
2024 Record: 31-5 Week 1: Aug. 21-22 Montana Tech Tournament, facing Montana State-Northern, William Carey (Miss.), Providence (Mont.), Taylor (Ind.) Stat to know: The Mounties only losses in 2024 were to Cascade Collegiate Conference teams but they are picked as the No. 2 in the conference to open the season. |
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6. Southern Oregon, 439 points
2024 Record: 32-4 Week 1: Aug. 15-16 Raider Invitational, facing Simpson (Calif.), Park Gilbert (Ariz.), Arizona Christian Stat to know: advanced to the semifinals for the first time in school history, where its run ended with a loss to the eventual national champion |
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7. Northwestern (Iowa), 423 points
2024 Record: 32-1 Week 1: Aug. 22 Siouxland Invitational, facing Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.), Valley City State (N.D.), McPherson (Kan.), Missouri Valley Stat to know: Was working on an undefeated season until they were surprised in championship pool play by Montana Western for the team’s first loss of the season. The Red Raiders look to have another strong season with top returners Zavyr Metzger, Emma Westphal, Maddy Sampson, Logan Miller & Liv Reitsma. |
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8. IU Kokomo (Ind.), 382 points
2024 Record: 33-6 Week 1: Aug. 20 Home vs Bethel (Ind.) Stat to know: returns their two top players in Lexi Broyles and Mya Grigsby. |
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9. St. Thomas (Fla.), 374 points
2024 Record: 33-1 Week 1: Aug. 15 Southeastern (Fla.) Tournament, facing Reinhardt (Ga.) & Point (Ga.) Stat to know: Advanced out of pool play for the first time in 2024 and graduated five players that contributed significantly to the team’s previous success, but reloads with three freshmen and three transfers. |
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10. Providence (Mont.), 351
2024 Record: 27-7 Week 1: Aug. 22 Big Sky Challenge, facing Nelson (Texas), Eastern Oregon, Evergreen State (Wash.), Taylor (Ind.) Stat to know: UP won the Frontier Conference regular season & championship and will look to defend their conference titles with new teams added to the league this season |
| RANK | INSTITUTION | RECORD | POINTS |
| 11 | Montana Western | 25-10 | 317 |
| 12 | McPherson (Kan.) | 30-7 | 317 |
| 13 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 31-4 | 308 |
| 14 | Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) | 31-5 | 290 |
| 15 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 40-3 | 277 |
| 16 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 26-11 | 261 |
| 17 | Montana Tech | 20-12 | 236 |
| 18 | College of Idaho (Idaho) | 22-14 | 209 |
| 19 | Missouri Baptist | 27-12 | 208 |
| 20 | Midland (Neb.) | 18-13 | 192 |
| 21 | Nelson (Texas) | 31-6 | 188 |
| 22 | Marian (Ind.) | 25-9 | 184 |
| 23 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 21-8 | 131 |
| 24 | William Carey (Miss.) | 29-11 | 91 |
| 25 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | RV | 85 |
Receiving Votes: Columbia (Mo.) 62, Texas Wesleyan 52, Morningside (Iowa) 44, Grace (Ind.) 35, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 34, Dakota State (S.D.) 31, CIU (S.C.) 31, Park (Mo.) 31, Indiana Tech 29, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 21, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18, Benedictine (Kan.) 18, Oregon Tech 17, Cornerstone (Mich.) 16, Williams Baptist (Ark.) 16, Bushnell (Ore.) 15, Reinhardt (Ga.) 15, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 10, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 8, Taylor (Ind.) 7, Rio Grande (Ohio) 7, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 6, Cumberland (Tenn.) 6, St. Ambrose (Iowa) 5, Carroll (Mont.) 4, Valley City State (N.D.) 3, OUAZ (Ariz.) 2
Poll Methodology
- The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
- A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
- The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
- 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
- The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
- Teams receiving only one point are not listed as “receiving votes.”
- For the Preseason Poll, there is no “previous ranking” column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.