LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With all the shuffling there was one constant, Humboldt State, in this week’s 2017 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, announced the Association on Wednesday morning. The idle Jacks were voted the unanimous No. 1 team, while the other 24 positions saw significant movement.
Hampered by the severe weather in Northern California, the idle Jacks’ (5-0), located 100 miles north of San Francisco in the city of Arcata, have not seen the field since Feb. 5 due to the heavy rains plaguing the area. HSU will attempt to get back out on the field on Feb. 24-25 at San Francisco State.
With some defeats handed to top five teams, Southern Arkansas, St. Mary’s, North Georgia and Grand Valley State made up a new top 5, with the latter four earning their way in for the first time this season. Also, No. 6 Valdosta State, No. 8 Saint Leo and No. 10 Chico State moved into the top-10.
The Lady Muleriders, who were No. 5 the first two weeks of the season, improved to 10-2 with a 3-1 outing at the UAM 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark. SAU topped Northwest Missouri (6-5), Central Missouri (14-5) and Fort Hays State (5-1 in 9 inn.) before dropping its finale to Missouri Southern (5-6).
Making the biggest move is St. Mary’s, jumping seven spots to No. 3. The Rattlers (14-2) opened their home schedule in fine fashion, sweeping through their opposition of their Rattler Invitational, including a win over then-No. 12 Central Oklahoma (5-1). They also defeated South Central Region foes, Metro State (3-2, 5-2) and St. Edwards (3-0, 6-1).
North Georgia and Grand Valley State tied for fourth. The Nighthawks (14-4) bounced back from a pair of defeats to Shorter (3-4, 1-4) with four convincing wins over Shepherd (9-1, 8-0) and Seton Hill (12-4, 20-4). The Lakers open their 2017 season this weekend at the Lewis Flyers D-2 Midwest Region Dome Invitational in Rosemont, Ill. Grand Valley will take on Missouri S&T, Illinois Springfield, Wisconsin-Parkside and William Jewell.
Catapulting five spots into the sixth position is Valdosta State. The Blazers (12-2) outscored their opponents 73-7 in five wins last week as they extended their winning streak to eight games. West Texas A&M fell from No. 2 to No. 7 after a 3-2 week at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Lady Buffs (14-2) opened with three wins over University of Mary (11-8), Lincoln Memorial (1-0) and Academy of Art (9-5) before dropping two contests to then-No. 23 Dixie State (4-8, 6-7).
Saint Leo leapt eight spots to No. 8, courtesy of a 4-0 week, which included two wins over then-No. 4 Armstrong State (5-1, 7-5) Adelphi, who opened its season in California on Monday, came in at No. 9 and idle Chico State (5-0) is No. 10.
Making the biggest jump up is No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne, who after a 6-0 week, moved up 13 spots from No. 25. No. 3 North Alabama and No. 4 Armstrong State fell significantly to No. 24 and No. 17, respectively.
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. Records reflect games played through Sunday, Feb. 19.
2017 NFCA Division II Softball Coaches Poll
Week 2 | February 22, 2017
Dropped Out: None.
Receiving Votes: Southern Indiana (23), Missouri Western (11), Pfeiffer (11), Southern New Hampshire (10), Lubbock Christian (9), LIU Post (6), West Florida (2).