Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Volleyball program will begin the 2024 campaign ranked No. 18 in the preseason edition of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Other Heart programs featured or mentioned in the Top 25 include No. 8 Park and (RV) Benedictine College.
The preseason ranking for CMU marks the 43rd straight poll in which the Eagles have landed in the Top 25, the fifth longest active streak in the country.
CMU returns a pair of Heart All-Conference selections to the lineup in 2024, including Heart First Team All-Conference selection Annabelle Maassen, and Third Team honoree Joana Milho.
Central finished 2023 with a final record of 22-11 and a 14-3 mark in conference play. The Eagles qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for the sixth-straight season last fall and made an appearance in the Heart Tournament Championship for the fifth time in the last six years.
The Eagles open the season at Viking Invitational on Friday, August 23 in Marshall, Mo.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Rating Methodology:
- The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conference/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team's rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Indiana Wesleyan [20] | 38-0 | 591 |
| 2 | 1 | Northwestern (Iowa) [1] | 31-3 | 571 |
| 3 | 3 | Eastern Oregon | 34-2 | 554 |
| 4 | 4 | Concordia (Neb.) | 25-4 | 508 |
| 5 | 5 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 34-5 | 506 |
| 6 | 15 | Midland (Neb.) | 18-12 | 479 |
| 7 | 12 | Columbia (Mo.) | 32-7 | 453 |
| 8 | 6 | Park (Mo.) | 32-3 | 437 |
| 9 | 9 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 25-11 | 432 |
| 10 | 12 | Southern Oregon | 28-7 | 428 |
| 11 | 8 | Missouri Baptist | 27-7 | 407 |
| 12 | 7 | Corban (Ore.) | 28-7 | 372 |
| 13 | 25 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 28-6 | 329 |
| 14 | 18 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 26-10 | 326 |
| 15 | NR | Montana Western | 22-8 | 326 |
| 16 | 14 | IU Kokomo (Ind.) | 34-4 | 266 |
| 17 | 16 | College of Saint Mary (Neb.) | 22-9 | 244 |
| 18 | 21 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 22-11 | 236 |
| 19 | 22 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 27-3 | 229 |
| 20 | 20 | Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) | 31-9 | 214 |
| 21 | 11 | Montana Tech | 24-6 | 164 |
| 22 | RV | Valley City State (N.D.) | 23-11 | 157 |
| 23 | NR | Providence (Mont.) | 15-11 | 152 |
| 24 | RV | Kansas Wesleyan | 26-10 | 146 |
| 25 | RV | Ottawa (Kan.) | 22-12 | 138 |
Receiving Votes: Columbia International (S.C.) 109, Morningside (Iowa) 95, Nelson (Texas) 94, Bethel (Ind.) 62, Texas Wesleyan 59, Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) 51, Benedictine (Kan.) 43, College of Idaho 29, St Ambrose (Iowa) 29, Marian (Ind.) 21, Loyola (La.) 20, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 17, Bethel (Kan.) 14, Xavier (La.) 14, Indiana Tech 12, IU East (Ind.) 12, Aquinas (Mich.) 11, Dakota state (S.D.) 9, Talladega (Ala.) 8, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 7, McPherson (Kan.) 5, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 4
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