Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Volleyball program stayed put at No. 21 in the fourth edition of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, which was announced by the national office.
Central is the highest-ranking team from the Heart of America, while Benedictine comes in at No. 24. Park University is currently receiving votes.
The Eagles are currently in first place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with a 20-5 overall record and a 9-2 mark in conference. Central is riding a four-game winning streak, with their last defeat coming at the beginning of October in a five-set thriller against No. 24 Benedictine. CMU's last four victories have come in straight sets.
Central will look to continue to hold serve atop the regular-season standings with a match against Missouri Valley College on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m. inside Puckett Field House.
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 | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Northwestern (Iowa) [20] | 21-0 | 560 |
| 2 | 2 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 16-0 | 542 |
| 3 | 4 | Concordia (Neb.) | 16-2 | 501 |
| 4 | 3 | Eastern Oregon | 19-2 | 487 |
| 5 | 5 | Southern Oregon | 18-2 | 477 |
| 6 | 6 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 21-1 | 466 |
| 7 | 9 | Indiana Wesleyan (Ind.) | 21-2 | 457 |
| 8 | 7 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 21-3 | 456 |
| 9 | 8 | Corban (Ore.) | 17-2 | 439 |
| 10 | 10 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 20-0 | 401 |
| 11 | 11 | IU Kokomo (Ind.) | 21-4 | 378 |
| 12 | 12 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 27-1 | 369 |
| 13 | 12 | Providence (Mont.) | 17-4 | 341 |
| 14 | 15 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 16-9 | 318 |
| 15 | 16 | Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) | 22-2 | 287 |
| 16 | 14 | Grace (Ind.) | 16-5 | 280 |
| 17 | 19 | Montana Western | 14-6 | 279 |
| 18 | 18 | Midland (Neb.) | 12-8 | 218 |
| 19 | 20 | Montana Tech | 13-7 | 202 |
| 20 | 24 | McPherson (Kan.) | 18-5 | 190 |
| 21 | 21 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 19-5 | 173 |
| 22 | RV | College of Idaho | 12-9 | 151 |
| 22 | RV | Nelson (Texas) | 18-4 | 151 |
| 24 | 25 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 17-4 | 129 |
| 25 | 22 | Marian (Ind.) | 16-5 | 101 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Park (Mo.), CIU (S.C.)
Receiving Votes: CIU (S.C.) 85, Bushnell (Ore.) 67, Indiana Tech 50, The Master's (Calif.) 47, Columbia (Mo.) 46, Park (Mo.) 43, Cumberlands (Ky.) 40, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 36, Morningside (Iowa) 36, Cornerstone (Mich.) 22, Carroll (Mont.) 20, Mobile (Ala.) 15, Dakota State (S.D.) 11, Missouri Baptist 10, Ottawa (Kan.) 10, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 4
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