There are 433 DIII women’s volleyball programs, spread all across the USA, and each school has some great volleyball being played there. DIII is the largest component of women’s college volleyball, larger than DI, DII, or NAIA. We are entering the conference tournament phase of DIII women’s volleyball, to be followed by regional tournaments and finally the DIII Women’s National Volleyball Championship, which is only two weeks away.
Event – NCAA DIII Championship
Dates – 11/17– 11/19
Location – Oshkosh, WI
Host Institution – University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Here’s the Net Set Rankings for November 2, 2016.
NS Rank
School & Nickname
Conference
Location
2016 W-L
AVCA Poll
Pablo Rank
NS Index
1
Calvin Knights
MIAA
Grand Rapids, Michigan
26-0
1
1
1.00
2
Texas-Dallas Comets
ASC
Dallas, Texas
22-2
3
2
2.50
3
Cal Lutheran Regals
SCIAC
Thousand Oaks, California
23-4
2
5
3.50
4
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas
SCIAC
Claremont, California
26-1
4
6
5.00
5
Emory Eagles
UAA
Atlanta, Georgia
27-5
8
3
5.50
6
Wittenberg Tigers
NCAC
Springfield, Ohio
18-5
7
9
8.00
7
Hope Flying Dutch
MIAA
Holland, Michigan
25-6
10
7
8.50
8
Colorado College Tigers
SCAC
Colorado Springs, Colorado
25-4
6
13
9.50
9
Southwestern Pirates
SCAC
Georgetown, Texas
29-3
5
15
10.00
10
Juniata Eagles
Landmark
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
22-6
9
12
10.50
11
Eastern Eagles
MAC
St. Davids, Pennsylvania
21-4
12
10
11.00
12
Ohio Northern Polar Bears
OAC
Ada, Ohio
24-3
23
4
13.50
T13
Trinity Tigers
SCAC
San Antonio, Texas
25-7
16
14
15.00
T13
La Verne Leopards
SCIAC
La Verne, California
22-5
19
11
15.00
T13
Northwestern-St. Paul Eagles
UMAC
St. Paul, Minnesota
28-4
22
8
15.00
16
Wisconsin-Stevens Point “Pointers”
WIAC
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
26-6
17
16
16.50
17
Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans
WIAC
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
27-6
20
17
18.50
18
Mary Washington Eagles
CAC
Fredericksburg, Virginia
27-5
15
23
19.00
19
Elmhurst Bluejays
CCIW
Elmhurst. Illinois
21-10
18
21
19.50
20
Carnegie-Mellon Tartans
UAA
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
23-6
21
19
20.00
21
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks
WIAC
Whitewater, Wisconsin
20-9
11
30
20.50
22
Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles
WIAC
La Crosse, Wisconsin
23-5
13
29
21.00
23
Hendrix Warriors
SAA
Conway, Arkansas
21-7
25
19
22.00
24
Washington-St. Louis Bears
UAA
St. Louis, Missouri
26-3
14
32
23.00
25
Millikin Big Blue
CCIW
Decatur, Illinois
24-11
28
23
25.50
Net Set (NS) DII Rankings and the NS Index are an average from the two polls or rankings listed below. The NS Rank is a numerical average based upon the positions of teams in these polls or rankings. In the Net Set Ranking, the team’s position in each poll or ranking is summed and then averaged to create the NS Index. This NS Index is then arranged, or ranked, in ascending order, with the lowest NS Index determining the number 1 team, the second lowest NS index determining the number 2 team, and so forth.
1. The AVCA Coaches Poll (http://www.avca.org/polls/diii-women/index.html).
AVCA, or the American Volleyball Coaches Association, publishes an outstanding weekly poll for each volleyball division from its member coaches in that division. Thus, DII coaches are voting on the teams in the DII poll, and these are the women and men who see these teams in action up close and personal, and undoubtedly one of the best sources on information for polls and ratings. To see the AVCA poll intact, with all 25 teams, first-place votes, adjusted ranking points, and other neat info, go to: (http://www.avca.org/polls/diii-women/11-1-2016.html).
2. The Pablo Rankings (http://www.richkern.com/vb/FreePage.asp).
The Pablo Rankings are an incredibly ingenious ranking system that operates on a probabilistic, algorithmic approach and analyzes and measures the difference in abilities between two teams overall and in a match. In terms of accuracy and predictive analytics, the Pablo Rankings are the most accurate mathematical model available today. You can find a detailed explanation of the Pablo Rankings at this web location: (http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/PabloFAQ.asp).
View the Pablo Rankings, the best pure statistical ranking available, at RichKern.com: (http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/FreePageRankings.asp).
Also, here’s a quick analysis of the DIII conferences in this rating along with their full conference names and the number of teams each conference has in the rating. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) has the most teams in the poll (four) with Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Wisconsin-La Crosse. The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the United Athletic Association (UAA) all have three teams in the Net Set ranking.
Conference Abbreviation
Full Name of Conference
Teams in Ranking
ASC
American Southwest Conference
1
CAC
Capital Athletic Conference
1
CCIW
Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
2
Landmark
Landmark Conference
1
MAC
Middle Atlantic Conferences
1
MIAA
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
2
NCAC
North Coast Athletic Conference
1
OAC
Ohio Athletic Conference
1
SAA
Southern Athletic Association
1
SCAC
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
3
SCIAC
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
3
UAA
United Athletic Association
3
UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
1
WIAC
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
4
What is NCAA Division III, or DIII? Straight from the NCAA website we read the following explanation: “Division III institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport. Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete’s experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities available to students, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference competition.”
http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are/membership/divisional-differences-and-history-multidivision-classification
LET’S GROW VOLLEYBALL!
