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Skylights achieve historic national ranking

Northern spikers garner No. 25 ranking in new NAIA Poll

It took a 10-match winning streak, and beating the Lewis-Clark State Warriors on the road, but the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team can finally say it's nationally-ranked.

In the new NAIA Coaches Poll, released Tuesday afternoon, the Skylights (10-0, 19-4) made their debut in the Top 25, coming in at No. 25. Northern hasn't lost a match since a road trip to Florida in the final week of August, and the Skylights just returned home from their most successful road trip of the season, with a sweep at Great Falls and LC State.

Northern has a two-match lead over Rocky Mountain College and LCSC in the Frontier standings with six matches left in the regular season. The Skylights also have four of those at home, including this weekend's doubleheader against the Warriors and Montana Tech.

Rocky is the only other Frontier team receiving national recognition at the moment. The Battlin' Bears received 25 votes in this week's poll. According to NAIA.org, this is the first time the Skylights have ever been ranked in the official NAIA Coaches Poll.

The Skylights host LCSC Friday night at 7 p.m., then take on Montana Tech Saturday night at 6 p.m.

NAIA Coaches Poll

Rnk. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 2 Texas at Brownsville 21-0 653

2 1 Concordia (Calif.) 17-1 632

3 3 Biola (Calif.) 16-2 611

4 4 Madonna (Mich.) 32-0 590

5 5 Northwestern (Iowa) 26-1 562

6 6 MidAmerica Naz. 20-1 551

7 7 Midland (Neb.) 26-2 531

8 8 Oklahoma Baptist 24-4 503

9 11 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 26-1 471

10 12 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 13-6 445

11 13 The Master's (Calif.) 15-4 424

12 9 Eastern Oregon 21-3 423

13 14 Bellevue (Neb.) 24-5 403

14 10 Park (Mo.) 26-3 397

15 16 Vanguard (Calif.) 16-5 360

16 17 Westmont (Calif.) 16-5 314

17 18 Wayland Baptist 24-4 307

18 15 Dordt (Iowa) 17-5 304

19 19 Grand View (Iowa) 23-12 279

20 20 Concordia (Ore.) 18-4 232

21 21 Cornerstone (Mich.) 20-9 206

22 22 Columbia (Mo.) 17-9 203

23 23 Davenport (Mich.) 23-7 188

24 RV Cal State San Marcos 22-9 151

25 RV MSU-Northern 19-4 118

Others receiving votes: Missouri Baptist 117; Hastings (Neb.) 113; Georgetown (Ky.) 75; Spring Hill (Ala.) 57; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 44; College of Idaho 27; Bryan (Tenn.) 26; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 25; Viterbo (Wis.) 25; Evangel (Mo.) 24; Campbellsville (Ky.) 8; Kansas Wesleyan 3; Jamestown (N.D.) 3.

 

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