Three AAC Teams Appear in NAIA Preseason Poll

(Story provided by NAIA Athletic Communications)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference is well represented in the NAIA Men's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll, released on Wednesday.

St. Thomas leads the way, landing at No. 3 with 89 voting points. 

Webber International and Reinhardt each received votes. Webber garnered 11 to land two spots outside the top 15, while Reinhardt collected six. 

RANK	INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]	2025 RECORD	POINTS
1	The Master's (Calif.) [6]	27-0	100
2	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	31-1	95
3	St. Thomas (Fla.)	25-2	89
4	Georgetown (Ky.)	24-5	74
5	Missouri Valley (Mo.)	22-5	73
6	Missouri Baptist	27-6	65
7	Lawrence Tech (Mich.)	27-3	64
8	Park (Mo.)	20-7	62
9	Campbellsville (Ky.)	23-8	48
10	Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.)	18-7	38
11	Grand View (Iowa)	19-8	35
12	Hope International (Calif.)	16-8	32
12	Mount Mercy (Iowa)	22-8	32
14	Westcliff (Calif.)	17-5	30
15	William Penn (Iowa)	16-11	20

Receiving Votes: Cornerstone (Mich.) 12, OUAZ (Ariz.) 11, Webber International (Fla.) 11, Governors State (Ill.) 9, Indiana Tech 8, Bethel (Ind.) 7, Lourdes (Ohio) 6, Reinhardt (Ga.) 6, Cumberland (Tenn.) 3

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.