WAYNE – With the 2019 NSIC Volleyball Tournament set to begin this weekend, the Wayne State College volleyball team moved up another spot in the most recent AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
According to a release from the Wayne State Athletics Office, WSC is now 12th in the country receiving 639 points in voting conducted by various DII coaches from across the nation.
The ‘Cats closed out their regular season schedule going 6-1 in the month of November, winning 19 of 22 sets played. Wayne State College is 24-6 overall and finished fifth in the NSIC with a 14-6 league record.
Cal State San Bernardino again remains the top team in DII volleyball with their 24-0 record receiving 44 first place votes followed by fellow undefeated team, Nebraska-Kearney (30-0) with two first place votes. The Lopers are just 43 points off (1148 – 1105) from the number one team in the country.
Other NSIC team ranked: #4 Northern State (24-4) moved up three spots, #7 St. Cloud State (23-5) moved up two spots, T-8th Concordia-St. Paul (22-7) fell back two spots, T-8th Minnesota Duluth (23-5) fell back three spots, #15 Winona State (21-7) moved up one spot, #18 Southwest Minnesota State (18-10) fell back one spot and #19 Upper Iowa (20-8) moved up two spots. Augustana (53) and Minnesota State-Mankato (16) were receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots.
Again, the fifth-ranked Wildcats will face #4 St. Cloud State (#7 NCAA DII) during the first round of the NSIC Volleyball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls on Friday, November 22. This season, WSC defeated SCSU in Wayne on October 19 by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 25-19.
Other first round volleyball games will feature #2 Minnesota Duluth (T-8 NCAA DII) vs. #7 Augustan (RV) at noon; #3 Concordia-St. Paul (T-8 NCAA DII) vs. #6 Winona State (#15 NCAA DII) at 2:30 p.m. and #1 Northern State (#4 NCAA DII) vs. #8 Upper Iowa (#19 NCAA DII) at 7:30 p.m.
Upper Iowa (12-8) won the tiebreaker over #18 SMSU (12-8) via strength of schedule.
AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll – Week #11 Poll: November 18, 2019
2019 Previous
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Points Record Rank
- Cal State San Bernardino (44) 1148 24-0 1
- Nebraska-Kearney (2) 1105 30-0 2
- Washburn 1054 26-2 3
- Northern State 972 24-4 7
- Regis 876 24-3 8
- Western Washington 855 24-2 4
- St. Cloud State 842 23-5 9
T8. Concordia-St. Paul 785 22-7 6
T8. Minnesota Duluth 785 23-5 5
- Central Missouri 687 21-8 10
- Hillsdale 673 23-3 11
- Wayne State (Neb.) 639 24-6 13
- Lewis 613 26-4 12
- Angelo State 529 25-2 14
- Winona State 486 21-7 16
- Wheeling 449 28-3 15
- Ferris State 359 22-5 18
- Southwest Minnesota State 339 18-10 17
- Upper Iowa 326 20-8 21
- Northwest Missouri State 280 20-8 19
- Rockhurst 247 26-7 20
- Missouri-St. Louis 175 27-3 23
- Michigan Tech 141 21-6 22
- Wingate 119 28-1 24
- Cal State Los Angeles 98 18-7 25
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Azusa Pacific 66; Alaska-Anchorage 59; Augustana (SD) 53; Texas A&M-Commerce 39; UC San Diego 30; Lynn 21; Arkansas-Fort Smith 16; Minnesota State 16; Tarleton State 16; Tampa 12; Colorado School of Mines 10; Simon Fraser University 8; Ashland 6; Central Oklahoma 6; MSU Denver 3;
6 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 18 combined points.