JERSEY CITY, NJ…For the first time in the history of the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Top 10 poll, a member of the CUNYAC Division has risen to the top of the conference. Baruch College (14-2), winners of six in a row, including road wins over #3 UC-Santa Cruz and Division I Harvard University, have climbed to the top of the charts in the league’s first poll since January 25. The Bearcats received 98 of 100 total points and 8-of-10 first place votes and are also now #4 in Division III.
Medaille College (11-4) is now #2 in the league, having received 82 points. The Mavericks, who jumped from a tie for seventh in the last poll, have had strong results in the past week—a sweep of Nazareth, and 3-0 wins over Rivier College and Stevens Institute of Technology, with a close 3-2 loss to UCSC at this weekend’s Golden Flyer Invitational.
Philadelphia Biblical University (8-1), which received one first place vote, has reached its highest-ever position in the poll at No. 3. The Crimson Eagles, who were tied for fourth in the last poll, claimed 81 points. PBU, which has only loss on a neutral court to then NECVA #1 Rivier, owns wins against Stevens and Ramapo College.
Rivier (13-3), dropped from first to fourth this week, receiving 78 total points and one first-place vote. The Raiders defeated Vassar College and Stevens at the Golden Flyer Invitational, but lost to Medaille and UCSC.
Stevens fell from second to fifth. The Ducks (8-5), which play a competitive schedule have wins over MIT, Endicott College and Eastern Mennonite University since the last poll, but lost to Vassar, UCSC, Rivier and Medaille, and went 1-3 at the Golden Flyer Invitational.
SUNY New Paltz, which was unranked and received no points in the previous poll, surged to #6 this week. The Hawks (8-5) bounced back from a slow start to the year with an impressive second-place showing at the Golden Flyer Invitational, defeating host Nazareth College, EMU, and Vassar, before falling to UCSC in five sets in the finals.
Vassar (6-6) dropped from fourth to seventh this week, going 1-3 at the Golden Flyer Invitational. Ramapo (7-3) fell from sixth to eighth, despite winning its last five. Endicott, which received votes last time, is now ninth. The Gulls (9-4) have recent wins over MIT, Division I Sacred Heart University, and Lasell College.
There is a three-way tie for 10th place between Newbury College (9-4), Nazareth (5-6) and MIT (11-4). Emmanuel also received votes.
The NECVA will release its weekly Top 10 Poll each Tuesday, leading up to the 2010 NECVA championship, April 9-11, in Cape Cod, Mass.
|
RK
|
AVCA
|
TEAM (#1 VOTES)
|
RECORD
|
TOTAL PTS
|
LAST WEEK
|
LAST WEEK POINTS
|
|
1
|
#4
|
Baruch College (8)
|
14-2
|
98
|
3
|
68
|
|
2
|
#T7
|
Medaille College
|
11-4
|
82
|
8
|
28
|
|
3
|
#6
|
Philadelphia Biblical (1)
|
8-1
|
81
|
4t
|
67
|
|
4
|
#T7
|
Rivier College (1)
|
13-3
|
78
|
1
|
96
|
|
5
|
#11
|
Stevens
|
8-5
|
47
|
2
|
95
|
|
6
|
#13
|
SUNY New Paltz
|
8-5
|
38
|
NR
|
0
|
|
7
|
#T14
|
Vassar College
|
6-6
|
33
|
4t
|
67
|
|
8
|
#12
|
Ramapo College
|
7-3
|
32
|
6
|
41
|
|
9
|
RV
|
Endicott College
|
9-4
|
20
|
RV
|
11
|
|
10t
|
RV
|
Newbury College
|
9-4
|
13
|
RV
|
11
|
|
10t
|
#T14
|
Nazareth College
|
5-6
|
13
|
9
|
19
|
|
10t
|
RV
|
MIT
|
11-4
|
13
|
7
|
35
|
Dropped Out: #10 Emmanuel College.
Also Receiving Votes: Emmanuel College (10-4), 2.
Note: Points represent total out of 10. A team voted No. 1 on a ballot receives 10 points, No. 2 receives 9 points, No. 3 receives 8 points, and so forth.
ABOUT THE NECVA:
The North East Collegiate Volleyball Association, the largest known single-sport conference in the United States, is in its 16th year of competition during the 2010 season as a leading Division III men’s volleyball conference. Founded in 1995 as the Metro Conference, it became known as the NECVA in 1998. Currently comprised of 44 colleges and universities stretching from New Hampshire to Virginia, Albertus Magnus College, Daniel Webster College, Emerson College and St. Joseph’s College (Brooklyn) joined the conference for the 2009 campaign. New teams in 2010 include Regis College and Sage Colleges.
The league is divided into five smaller divisions: CUNY (8), GNAC (7), Metro (10), New England (9), and Western (9) with one associate member. Each week, schools from the five divisions nominate athletes and then vote for the divisional Player and Rookie of the Week awards. The conference sports information office then selects the NECVA Player and Rookie honors from each of these five divisional winners.
The NECVA holds an annual 16-team conference tournament each April with the top two schools in each division and six at-large selections earning berths. The NECVA champion receives one of four automatic bids to the Molten Division III Final Four in April.
2010 POLL VOTERS:
Tim Byram, Endicott College (NE Division); Joseph DeBenedictis, Hunter College (CUNYAC Division); Paul Dill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (NE Division); Patrick Dorywalski, Stevens Institute of Technology (Metro Division); Bill Gorman, Wentworth Institute of Technology (NE Division); Keith Koch, Medaille College (Western Division); Craig Kolek, Rivier College (GNAC Division); John Neves; Baruch College (CUNYAC Division); Ira Thor, NECVA Assistant Commissioner for Athletic Communications/New Jersey City University; Don Vanderbeck, Ramapo College (At-large voter); Cal Wickens, Nazareth College (Western Division); Chris Wright, Emmanuel College (GNAC Division).