Having experienced a season-long drop in the polls up to now, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team is on its way back up.
On the strength of last week's five-set road win over No. 14 Oklahoma Baptist that helped extend their winning streak to a season-best four straight, the Pioneers jumped three spots from No. 25 to No. 22 in this week's Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Besides the win over the Lady Bison, who fell six spots to a tie for No. 20, the Pioneers also recorded a four-set win over Texas-Permian Basin and a three-set victory over Southwestern Christian. But it was the victory over OBU that meant the most, both to the Pioneers and their ranking. It was Wayland's first win over OBU in four years and followed 12 straight losses, and it snapped a 53-game Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season winning streak for the Lady Bison.
Wayland started the season ranked No. 3, its highest ranking ever, but after mixed results throughout the season the Pioneers slipped to No. 11, No. 13, No. 22, No. 24 and No. 25.
The Pioneers are back on the court at 7 p.m. Friday in Waxahachie against Southwestern Assemblies of God University (11-9, 5-3) prior to heading to Fort Worth to take on Texas Wesleyan (9-14, 5-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The team's next home match is 7 p.m. Oct. 22 against the Chinese National Team.
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Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll—Oct. 14
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| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2014 Record | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (23) | 18-2 | 653 |
| 2 | 3 | Concordia (Calif.) | 22-1 | 623 |
| 3 | 4 | Park (Mo.) | 24-0 | 613 |
| 4 | 2 | Texas at Brownsville | 21-2 | 590 |
| 5 | 5 | Biola (Calif.) | 18-4 | 570 |
| 6 | 6 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 21-2 | 549 |
| 7 | 7 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 25-3 | 531 |
| 8 | 9 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 23-2 | 484 |
| 9 | 10 | Eastern Oregon | 20-2 | 479 |
| 10 | 11 | Southern Oregon | 15-3 | 452 |
| 11 | 8 | Midland (Neb.) | 16-5 | 451 |
| 12 | 12 | Missouri Baptist | 22-1 | 436 |
| 13 | 15 | Davenport (Mich.) | 19-4 | 387 |
| 14 | 13 | Columbia (Mo.) | 23-4 | 383 |
| 15 | 16 | Evangel (Mo.) | 17-5 | 331 |
| 16 | 18 | Madonna (Mich.) | 25-5 | 326 |
| 17 | 19 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 18-7 | 316 |
| 18 | 22 | Grand View (Iowa) | 17-11 | 293 |
| 19 | 17 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 18-7 | 259 |
| T20 | 20 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 15-4 | 231 |
| T20 | 14 | Oklahoma Baptist | 17-7 | 231 |
| 22 | 25 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 13-9 | 222 |
| 23 | 21 | Dordt (Iowa) | 12-8 | 218 |
| 24 | 24 | Coastal Georgia | 19-1 | 180 |
| 25 | 23 | Ashford (Iowa) | 20-7 | 85 |
Others receiving votes: Indiana Wesleyan 82; Bryan (Tenn.) 81; St. Catharine (Ky.) 50; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 50; College of Idaho 42; St. Thomas (Fla.) 39; Carroll (Mont.) 33; Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 32; Hastings (Neb.) 32; Cal State San Marcos 28; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 19; Point Park (Pa.) 10; The Master's (Calif.) 8; Concordia (Ore.) 8.
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