Cal State San Bernardino's women's volleyball team held onto its No. 2 position in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 national poll today as No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul of Minnesota received all 36 first-place votes to retain the top spot with a record of 25-1.
The Coyotes, 20-2 overall and in first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, will face two nationally-ranked teams this week, starting with No. 20 Cal Poly Pomona (14-5) on Wednesday night at Darlene May gym on the Pomona campus.
On Saturday, CSUSB will host No. 15 UC San Diego, a team that beat the Coyotes last month, 3-2, at La Jolla, ending CSUSB's 12-match win streak to open the season and its three-week reign as the No. 1 team in the nation. That match is set for 7 p.m. in Coussoulis Arena.
The next NCAA Pacific Region poll comes out on Wednesday. UCSD is currently No. 1 and CSUSB is No. 2 followed by No. 3 Cal State L.A. and No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona.
The top eight teams in the final poll next month will advance to the NCAA regional tournament at a venue to be determined.
These next two matches will go a long way in determining which team has the inside track to the conference title and an automatic berth in the regional tournament, scheduled to be conducted Nov. 20-22.
AVCA DIVISION II COACHES TOP 25 POLL
1. Concordia St. Paul -- 25-1; 2. CSUSB COYOTES -- 20-2; 3. Southwest Minnesota State -- 23-3; 4. Grand Valley State -- 22-2; 5. Tampa -- 21-2; 6. West Texas A&M -- 24-4; 7. Washburn -- 26-2; 8. Emporia State -- 26-2; 9. Nebraska-Kearney -- 26-2; 10. Florida Southern -- 21-6.
Also: 11. Truman -- 22-7;.12. Western Washington -- 16-2; 13. Cal State LA -- 18-3; 14. Central Missouri -- 24-6; 15. UC San Diego -- 17-4; 16. West Florida -- 19-6; 17. Minnesota Duluth -- 19-6; 18. Pittsburg State -- 21-6; 19. California (PA) -- 32-1; 20. Cal Poly Pomona, 14-5; 21. Lewis -- 24-5; 22. Augustana, SD -- 18-8; 23. Wayne State -- 20-5; 24. Western Oregon -- 16-2; 25. Indianapolis -- 23-7.
