Grizzlies receiving votes in AVCA Top 25 poll

LEXINGTON, Ky.— For the first time in at least head coach Lindy Mortensen’s tenure, the Adams State College volleyball team is receiving some national poll recognition as the Grizzlies were listed in the “others receiving votes” category of this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Coaches Top 25 poll.

The Grizzlies, who defeated then No. 16 West Texas A&M and No. 6 Saint Leo (Fla.), on Saturday at the Colorado Premier Challenge in Denver, have four points in the balloting of the 31 coaches from around the country, who ranked the nation’s top teams 1 through 25.  At least two of those coaches voted for the Grizzlies.

Tampa (Fla.), ranked second in last week’s poll, received 17 of the first place votes and claimed top billing in the poll with 750 points.  The Spartans had last held the top spot in the 2007 preseason poll and have been in the top 10 every week since 2004.   They defeated previous No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) on Saturday at the Colorado Premier Challenge ending the Golden Bears’ 25-week run at the top.

The Golden Bears, who lost both of their matches Saturday, are now 5-3 and ranked sixth.

Cal State-San Bernardino and Washburn (Kan.) moved up a spot each and are now second and third with 723 and 704 points, respectively.  Both of those teams received four first place votes.

Minnesota-Duluth, who the Grizzlies faced on Sept. 3, is now ranked fourth, also up a spot from last week.  The Bulldogs, who are 8-0 and receiving a single first place vote, were ranked ninth in the preseason poll.

Southwest Minnesota State, ranked 10th last week, is up five spots, to fifth in this week’s poll with 650 points.

Wayne State (Neb.), ranked 19th last week, moved up an incredible 12 spots after winning the Colorado Premier Challenge.  The Wildcats defeated Southwest Minnesota State in the championship match and have 609 points overall.  They are receiving six first place votes.

Central Missouri and Indianapolis (Ind.) switched spots with each other and are now ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, while Lewis (Ill.) cracked the top 10 after going 3-1 while winning the Silver Division bracket at the Colorado Premier Challenge.

The Grizzlies are one of four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams to be listed in the poll.  Nebraska-Kearney (7-2) slipped five spots to 12th after dropping a match to Mesa State in a non-conference match during their home tournament, while Metro State, which co-hosted the Colorado Premier Challenge slipped three spots to 15th, despite going 2-2 over the weekend.

Regis, the other Premier Challenge co-host, is also in the others receiving votes category with 19 points.  The Rangers are 4-4 thus far and fell to Lewis in the Silver Bracket final on Saturday.

The Grizzlies begin RMAC play this week with three road matches playing at Colorado Christian Thursday, Colorado Mines Friday and Nebraska-Kearney Saturday.  All of those matches will begin at 7 p.m. local time.

Related Item: Complete AVCA Poll (Sept. 13)