Volleyball receives votes in AVCA Division III preseason poll
By Wes Mayberry
| AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III Volleyball Poll – Aug. 23 |
ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team received votes in the 2023 AVCA/TARAFLEX NCAA Division III Volleyball Preseason Poll, which was released on Wednesday.
Northern received 17 voting points and is listed among the teams in the "others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots" category in the poll.
Defending national champion Juniata (Pa.) is the top-ranked team in the poll, and runner-up Trinity (Tex.) is No. 2.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is No. 3, and NYU and Northwestern (Minn.) round out the top five.
Otterbein is the lone Ohio Athletic Conference team in the top 25, coming in at No. 23.
In addition to Otterbein, ONU is set to face four teams ranked in the preseason poll this year, including No. 7 Calvin (Mich.), No. 8 Transylvania (Ky.), No. 15 Wisconsin-Oshkosh and No. 19 Wittenberg.
The Polar Bears are coming off a 2022 season that saw them post a 16-10 record, including a 6-3 mark in the OAC.
Northern opens its 2023 season with a four-game set at the Cedar Point Invitational on Sept. 1-2 under first-year head coach Sophie Windover.
AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III Top 25 Poll
Aug. 23, 2023
| Rank | School (First-place votes) | Points | Record |
| 1. | Juniata (Pa.) (81) | 2140 | 0-0 |
| 2. | Trinity (Tex.) | 1922 | 0-0 |
| 3. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) (3) | 1872 | 0-0 |
| 4. | NYU | 1803 | 0-0 |
| 5. | Northwestern (Minn.) | 1771 | 0-0 |
| 6. | Hope (Mich.) (2) | 1724 | 0-0 |
| 7. | Calvin (Mich.) | 1542 | 0-0 |
| 8. | Transylvania (Ky.) | 1506 | 0-0 |
| 9. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 1431 | 0-0 |
| 10. | MIT (Mass.) | 1269 | 0-0 |
| 11. | Berry (Ga.) | 1239 | 0-0 |
| 12. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 1194 | 0-0 |
| 13. | Emory (Ga.) | 1112 | 0-0 |
| 14. | Washington (Mo.) | 947 | 0-0 |
| 15. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 839 | 0-0 |
| 16. | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 770 | 0-0 |
| 17. | Gustavus-Adolphus (Minn.) | 731 | 0-0 |
| 18. | Tufts (Mass.) | 642 | 0-0 |
| 19. | Wittenberg | 593 | 0-0 |
| 20. | Wesleyan (Conn.) | 490 | 0-0 |
| 21. | Christopher Newport (Va.) | 415 | 0-0 |
| 22. | Mary Washington (Va.) | 299 | 0-0 |
| 23. | Otterbein | 276 | 0-0 |
| 24. | Williams (Mass.) | 215 | 0-0 |
| 25. | Wisconsin-Eau Claire | 159 | 0-0 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Coe 137; Colorado College 107; Chicago 101; UC Santa Cruz 61; SUNY Cortland 52; North Park 48; Cornell (Iowa) 43; Stevens 43; Babson 41; Carnegie-Mellon 41; Ithaca 39; Texas-Dallas 38; Salisbury 33; Millikin 28; Southwestern (Texas) 26; Cal Lutheran 22; Ohio Northern 17; Pomona-Pitzer 14; Puget Sound 12; Bethel (Minn.) 11; Albion 9; Wisconsin-Platteville 9; Eastern 8; Augsburg 6; Johnson & Wales (RI) 6; Scranton 6; Swarthmore 5; Birmingham Southern 3; Stevenson 3.