LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On the eve of the 2015 NCAA Southeast Region Tournament, the Anderson University softball team dropped one spot to No. 25 in the most recent NFCA Division II Top-25 Poll, as released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded Trojans (39-13) are slated to open the Dahlonega, Ga. Regional by squaring off against fellow South Atlantic Conference-member Catawba (29-15) on Friday at 4 p.m.
Anderson has earned recognition in the national poll for eight consecutive weeks this season and remains the lone representative from the South Atlantic Conference in the rankings. The Trojans joined sixth-ranked North Georgia and eighth-ranked Georgia College in the poll. Catawba and Armstrong Atlantic State also received votes in this week's poll.
Following an undefeated run to its third straight Great Lakes
Valley Tournament (GLVC) title, Missouri-St. Louis is ranked No. 1
for the first time in program history.
The Tritons (44-6) entered the GLVC tournament as the top seed and
posted three shutouts in its four-game run to the championship.
Gathering 12 first-place votes and 395 points, UMSL triumphed over
Rockhurst (9-0), Truman State (6-4), Lewis (3-0) and No. 10
Indianapolis (2-0 in 8 inn.) in the title game. The shutout against
Rockhurst was highlighted by junior Hannah Perryman's second
perfect game of the week, sixth of the season and seventh of her
career, matching Texas All-American Cat Osterman and Division III
All-American, Salisbury's Rachel Johnson, for the most in NCAA
history.
Valdosta State, which received two first-place votes, slipped to
No. 2 after bowing out of the Gulf South Tournament in two games.
Hosting the tournament, the Blazers (46-7) were defeated by
eventual champion Shorter (3-5) and then No. 11 Alabama-Huntsville
(3-6).
The final eight spots in the top-10 remained the same. No. 3 West
Texas A&M and No. 4 Dixie State each recorded one first-place
vote. The Lady Buffs (43-6) claimed the Lone Star Conference title
with victories over RV Cameron (10-3) and Texas Woman's (9-6). The
Red Storm (44-7) closed out their regular season with a
doubleheader sweep of Holy Names (9-1 / 12-0).
No. 5 Cal State Monterey Bay went a perfect 3-0 to take home the
California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament title.
The Otters (47-10) trumped Chico State 7-6 in 10 innings and
knocked off then-No. 15 Humboldt twice (5-3 / 2-0) for the
crown.
No. 6 North Georgia and No. 8 Georgia College finished play last
week, while No. 7 St. Mary's (42-9) won the Heartland Conference
championship, defeating Newman (6-3) and St. Edward's twice (8-2 /
2-1).
Rounding out the top 10 are conference tournament runner-ups, No. 9
Augustana (S.D.) in the Northern Sun and No. 10 Indianapolis in the
GLVC. Despite falling in the championship game to now No. 13 Winona
State, the Vikings (50-9) become the first NCAA program to reach
the 50-win plateau this season.
Every program in the top-10 will be hosting a respective regional
with UMSL (Midwest), Valdosta State (South), West Texas A&M
(South Central), Cal State Monterey Bay (West), North Georgia
(Southeast) and Augustana (Central) garnering top seeds. Joining
that group as No. 1 region seeds are No. 14 Caldwell (East) and No.
21 California (Pa.) (Atlantic), which won the Central Atlantic
Collegiate Conference (CACC) and Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference (PSAC) titles, respectively.
Rounding out the ranked NCAA Regional host teams- No. 15 Southern
New Hampshire (#2 East), No. 19 North Alabama (#3 South), No. 20
Central Missouri (#2 Central) and No. 22 West Virginia Wesleyan (#2
Atlantic).
The 21st-ranked Vulcans and No. 23 Shorter (Gulf South Champions)
enter the top-25 this week.
Following the NCAA Tournament, the final Top-25 poll will be
announced shortly after the National Champion is crowned.
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II
head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions.
2015 records and previous week's rankings are shown with
first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division II Softball Poll - May 6, 2015
Rank Team 2015 Record Totals Prev. Rank
1 Missouri-St. Louis (12) 44-6 395 2
2 Valdosta State (2) 46-7 375 1
3 West Texas A&M (1) 43-6 369 3
4 Dixie State (1) 44-7 359 4
5 Cal State Monterey Bay 47-10 334 5
6 North Georgia 44-7 318 6
7 St. Mary's (TX) 43-8 307 7
8 Georgia College 42-9 276 8
9 Augustana (S.D.) 50-9 265 9
10 Indianapolis 42-12 244 10
11 California Baptist 40-9 229 12
12 Alabama-Huntsville 39-14 225 11
13 Winona State 46-12 219 14
14 Caldwell 34-12-1 173 17
15 Southern New Hampshire 31-6 161 24
16 Humboldt State 41-17 150 15
17 Southern Indiana 37-9 143 13
18 Metro State 42-14 135 18
19 North Alabama 35-12 129 16
20 Central Missouri 44-14 103 22
21 California (Pa.) 35-10 89 RV
22 West Virginia Wesleyan 35-8 60 19
23 Ashland 38-8 46 20
24 Shorter 36-15 33 RV
25 Anderson 39-13 28 23
Dropped Out: No. 21 Angelo State, No. 24 West
Chester
New to Poll: No. 21 California (Pa.), No. 24 Shorter
Others Receiving Votes: Cameron (14), Sonoma State
(13), Angelo State (9), Rollins (9), Catawba (8), Henderson State
(7), West Chester (5), Armstrong State (5), Gannon (5), Cameron
(3), Missouri Western (1).
