Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Volleyball program will begin the 2023 campaign ranked No. 19 in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason poll, which was released Wednesday morning.
The other two Heart programs featured in the Top 25 are No. 6 Park and No. 11 MidAmerica Nazarene.
The preseason ranking for Central marks the 36th straight poll in which the Eagles have landed in the Top 25, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.
CMU returns a majority of their core lineup from 2022, including five of seven Heart All-Conference selections. Leading the way for the Eagles is NAIA Third Team All-American and Heart Attacker of the Year Callie Henson, who enters her final season of play in 2023.
Central finished 2022 with a final record of 21-9 and a 13-6 mark in conference play. The Eagles qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for the fifth-straight season last fall.
CMU begins regular-season action at the Columbia College Tournament Friday, August 25 in Columbia, Mo.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Rating Methodology
- The rating was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents/unaffiliated groups.
- The Coaches Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"
| RANK | WEEK | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Jamestown (N.D.) [18] | 37-2 | 529 |
| 2 | 4 | Corban (Ore.) [1] | 33-5 | 512 |
| 3 | 1 | Eastern Oregon | 34-3 | 490 |
| 4 | 4 | Concordia (Neb.) | 25-6 | 483 |
| 5 | 8 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 23-8 | 439 |
| 6 | 13 | Park (Mo.) | 29-6 | 429 |
| 7 | 9 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 29-8 | 423 |
| 8 | 12 | Missouri Baptist | 30-5 | 409 |
| 9 | 3 | Midland (Neb.) | 28-6 | 407 |
| 10 | 7 | SAGU (Texas) | 33-2 | 350 |
| 11 | 10 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 30-2 | 335 |
| 12 | 11 | Taylor (Ind.) | 31-7 | 321 |
| 13 | 6 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 25-8 | 320 |
| 14 | 16 | Columbia (Mo.) | 29-11 | 297 |
| 15 | 17 | Montana Tech | 24-8 | 267 |
| 16 | 18 | Indiana Wesleyan | 24-8 | 262 |
| 17 | 14 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 28-8 | 252 |
| 18 | 15 | College of Saint Mary (Neb.) | 21-9 | 243 |
| 19 | 19 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 21-9 | 217 |
| 20 | RV | Southern Oregon | 22-12 | 200 |
| 21 | 21 | Marian (Ind.) | 26-7 | 199 |
| 22 | 22 | Ottawa (Kan.) | 25-11 | 179 |
| 23 | 24 | Texas Wesleyan | 26-6 | 142 |
| 24 | RV | Hastings (Neb.) | 20-15 | 115 |
| 25 | NR | Jessup (Calif.) | 17-10 | 80 |
| 25 | 22 | CIU (S.C.) | 38-9 | 80 |
Receiving Votes: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 73, Indiana Tech 53, Vanguard (Calif.) 48, Bethel (Ind.) 47, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 47, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 46, Oklahoma Wesleyan 46, John Brown (Ark.) 18, College of Idaho 14, Xavier (La.) 12, Kansas Wesleyan 11, Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) 10, St. Thomas (Fla.), 5, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 5, Campbellsville (Ky.) 3, Siena Heights (Mich.) 3, OUAZ (Ariz.) 3
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