Four days before their showdown with Oklahoma Baptist, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers took another step forward in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Wayland moved up one spot to No. 17 in the poll, which was released Tuesday, as the Pioneers continued their steady progress in the Top 25. WBU was the equivalent of No. 33 in the preseason before moving to No. 24 in the first regular-season poll. The Pioneers made one-spot jumps all the way to No. 20 before leaping ahead two spots to No. 18 a week ago. This week, it's back to a one-spot jump.
The only other Sooner Athletic Conference team ranked is Oklahoma Baptist, which remained No. 8. The Pioneers (24-4, 9-1 SAC) and Lady Bison (25-4, 11-0) square off at 7 p.m. Friday in Shawnee, Okla., with the top seed in the SAC Tournament on the line. That's important because the No. 1 seed hosts the tourney.
If the Pioneers win Friday in three or four sets, Wayland likely would host the conference tournament because Wayland holds the tie-breaker edge in those scenarios. Sets won in head-to-head competition is the first tie-breaker, so if Wayland wins Friday in three, the Pioneers would host based on that. If Wayland wins in four, like OBU did in the teams' first match-up, the next tie-breaker – assuming neither team loses any of their remaining SAC matches – is sets won against other SAC competition. Wayland likely would prevail then because the Pioneers, unlike the Lady Bison, have yet to drop a set against any other conference opponent.
OBU would host the conference tourney if the Lady Bison beat Wayland or lose in five.
"We will have a very competitive match," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said in anticipation of Friday night's showdown. "It'll be fun."
When the teams squared off on Sept. 28 in Plainview, OBU prevailed, 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 31-29. The loss ended the Pioneers' nine-match win streak and left the Bison in the driver's set for the SAC regular-season title.
"We really weren't that far off when we played them the first time," Giacomazzi said. "We had a little bit of nerves because it was OBU and we had been talking about them for so long. I believe if the girls relax a little bit, they'll be fine."
Since losing to unranked College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at home on Sept. 19, OBU has won 15 straight matches.
"We've been sharpening our blocking skills and sharpening our digging skills, and also trying to refine our free-ball plays and our out-of-system plays," Giacomazzi said.
Meanwhile, Texas at Brownsville was rewarded for knocking off the former top-ranked team as the Ocelots are the new No. 1 in the seventh regular-season edition of the Top 25 poll. For the previous 11 polls, Concordia (Calif.) was the No. 1 team, but Texas at Brownsville swept the Eagles, 3-0, on Oct. 19 in Brownsville.
The top billing is the first for the Ocelots since Oct. 23, 2012, which was the last of 10-consecutive No. 1 rankings. With a perfect 21-0 record this year, the member of the Red River Athletic Conference is one of two NAIA programs still undefeated, along with No. 4 Madonna (Mich.). Texas at Brownsville will participate in the Boneyard Brawl hosted by Georgetown (Ky.) this weekend. Two of the four opponents are ranked in the top 10 – No. 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and No. 10 Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
With the loss last weekend, Concordia fell to the No. 2 spot. That setback snapped the Eagles 55-match win streak, which was the third longest in NAIA history
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The eighth regular-season Top 25 will be announced Oct. 29.
Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (Oct. 22)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2013 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
2 |
Texas at Brownsville (23) |
21-0 |
653 |
|
2 |
1 |
Concordia (Calif.) |
17-1 |
632 |
|
3 |
3 |
Biola (Calif.) |
16-2 |
611 |
|
4 |
4 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
32-0 |
590 |
|
5 |
5 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
26-1 |
562 |
|
6 |
6 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
20-1 |
551 |
|
7 |
7 |
Midland (Neb.) |
26-2 |
531 |
|
8 |
8 |
Oklahoma Baptist |
24-4 |
503 |
|
9 |
11 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
26-1 |
471 |
|
10 |
12 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
13-6 |
445 |
|
11 |
13 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
15-4 |
424 |
|
12 |
9 |
Eastern Oregon |
21-3 |
423 |
|
13 |
14 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
24-5 |
403 |
|
14 |
10 |
Park (Mo.) |
26-3 |
397 |
|
15 |
16 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
16-5 |
360 |
|
16 |
17 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
16-5 |
314 |
|
17 |
18 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
24-4 |
307 |
|
18 |
15 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
17-5 |
304 |
|
19 |
19 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
23-12 |
279 |
|
20 |
20 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
18-4 |
232 |
|
21 |
21 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
20-9 |
206 |
|
22 |
22 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
17-9 |
203 |
|
23 |
23 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
23-7 |
188 |
|
24 |
RV |
Cal State San Marcos |
22-9 |
151 |
|
25 |
RV |
Montana State-Northern |
19-4 |
118 |
Others receiving votes: Missouri Baptist 117; Hastings (Neb.) 113; Georgetown (Ky.) 75; Spring Hill (Ala.) 57; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 44; College of Idaho 27; Bryan (Tenn.) 26; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 25; Viterbo (Wis.) 25; Evangel (Mo.) 24; Campbellsville (Ky.) 8; Kansas Wesleyan 3; Jamestown (N.D.) 3.
