2021 AVCA Week 4 poll: Welcome, UWSP & UCSC

The AVCA poll is starting to round into form in Week 4 after several teams continued to play their way out of rankings contention.

The top three of No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Trinity (Texas) remained unchanged, as expected, but two more new programs (Wisconsin-Stevens Point, UC Santa Cruz) entered the top 25 after just two newbies — fewer than perhaps deserved — made their debuts last week.

Regions VIII/IX teams in the Week 4 top 25: No. 8 Wartburg; No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater; No. 11 Wisconsin-Eau Claire; No. 15 Northwestern; No. 19 Wisconsin-Stevens Point; No. 20 Millikin; No. 21 Bethel; No. 22 Chicago; No. 23 Washington-St. Louis.

Regions VIII/IX teams receiving votes this week: Concordia Wisconsin; Gustavus Adolphus; Carthage; Transylvania; Wisconsin-La Crosse; Saint Benedict.

My Week 4 top 10 included No. 7 Wisconsin-Eau Claire and No. 10 NYU instead of the AVCA’s No. 7 Emory and No. 9 Mary Hardin-Baylor.

-Ricky Nelson