Volleyball receives votes in Week 1 AVCA Poll
By Wes Mayberry
| AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III Volleyball Poll – Sept. 5 |
ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team received votes in the AVCA/TARAFLEX NCAA Division III Volleyball Week 1 Poll, which was released on Tuesday.
Northern received 73 voting points and is listed third among teams in the "others receiving votes" category in the poll, which equates to a No. 28 ranking nationally.
The Polar Bears improved their positioning after receiving 17 points in the preseason poll.
Defending national champion Juniata (Pa.) is the top-ranked team in the poll, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is No. 2.
Hope (Mich.) is No. 3, and Calvin (Mich.) and Northwestern (Minn.) round out the top five.
Northern opened the 2023 season by going 4-0 in the Great Lakes Cross Over with wins of 3-0 over Carroll (Wis.) and Allegheny (Pa.), 3-1 over Hiram and 3-2 over Bethany (W.Va.).
The Polar Bears return to action on Friday and Saturday for a three-game set in the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational.
AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III Top 25 Poll — Week 1
Sept. 5, 2023
| Rank | School (First-place votes) | Points | Record | Last Week |
| 1. | Juniata (Pa.) (84) | 2143 | 3-0 | 1 |
| 2. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) | 2032 | 3-0 | 3 |
| 3. | Hope (Mich.) (1) | 1893 | 3-0 | 6 |
| 4. | Calvin (Mich.) (1) | 1807 | 3-0 | 7 |
| 5. | Northwestern (Minn.) | 1783 | 3-0 | 5 |
| 6. | Trinity (Tex.) | 1587 | 3-1 | 2 |
| 7. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 1466 | 2-1 | 9 |
| 8. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 1411 | 4-0 | 15 |
| 9. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 1327 | 4-0 | 12 |
| 10. | Berry (Ga.) | 1282 | 2-1 | 11 |
| 11. | NYU | 1262 | 2-1 | 4 |
| 12. | Emory (Ga.) | 1220 | 3-0 | 13 |
| 13. | MIT (Mass.) | 1196 | 3-0 | 10 |
| 14. | Washington (Mo.) | 1005 | 3-1 | 14 |
| 15. | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 983 | 3-0 | 16 |
| 16. | Transylvania (Ky.) | 914 | 1-2 | 8 |
| 17. | Tufts (Mass.) | 593 | 0-0 | 18 |
| 18. | Gustavus-Adolphus (Minn.) | 569 | 3-1 | 17 |
| 19. | UC Santa Cruz (Calif.) | 549 | 5-0 | NR |
| 20. | Wesleyan (Conn.) | 519 | 0-0 | 20 |
| 21. | Wittenberg | 473 | 1-2 | 19 |
| 22. | Mary Washington (Va.) | 366 | 2-0 | 22 |
| 23. | Coe (Iowa) | 202 | 2-1 | NR |
| 24. | Cornell (Iowa) | 180 | 3-0 | NR |
| 25. | Christopher Newport (Va.) | 158 | 1-2 | 21 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Williams 105; Wisconsin-Eau Claire 79; Ohio Northern 73; Carnegie-Mellon 67; Mount St. Joseph 67; North Park 66; La Verne 64; Chicago 57; Ithaca 57; SUNY Cortland 44; Otterbein 39; Millikin 35; Albion 34; Puget Sound 25; Babson 23; Colorado College 21; Salisbury 19; Augustana (IL) 17; Pomona-Pitzer 17; St Olaf 15; Case Western 14; Swarthmore 13; Texas-Dallas 12; North Central (IL) 7; Texas Lutheran 6; Wisconsin-Platteville 5.