AVCA Top 25 – Final

The final AVCA Top 25 has come out and it’s no surprise undefeated Johns Hopkins claims the top spot for the first time this year and when it matters most. The Blue Jays captured 77 of the 78 first place votes. The other vote went to Emory who finished second in the voting. Now, you may be wondering how does a voter still vote Emory second when they were swept by Johns Hopkins in the final match of the year and I would respond that you should be asking how they also had the Blue Jays ranked 5th? I didn’t see the individual votes posted but you have to assume this coach is just making a mistake. Maybe submitting an old ballot.

After the championship finalist, the voters had Carthage, Trinity and Calvin in the next three spots. Chicago, CMS, Colorado College, St. Benedict and Hope rounded out the Top 10. You can find the full list here.

The final ballot to me is often a joke as the voters primarily rely on the finishes from the NCAA Tournament without regard to how the regionals are constructed (often unfairly). It’s why Stevens is in the rankings but truthfully there are not any other glaring examples of this.

Looking specifically at the West Region and we will finish with the same three teams in the Top 25 (actually the Top 10) – Trinity (4), CMS (7) and Colorado College (8). In the receiving votes category, we have only UT-Dallas and Chapman. In fact, Chapman is the highest team in the poll that didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Something historical did happen in this final ranking because Washington-St. Louis was dropped from the Top 25. This marks the first time since the poll was started (1992) that WUSTL hasn’t been ranked to end the season. Only Juniata can make this claim now.

UPDATE – The individual ballots were just released. Hood Head Coach Dana (Barstow) Mitchell had the offending ballot. It doesn’t appear to be a mistake, either. She moved Johns Hopkins up to 5th from 8th after their NCAA Tournament run. Some rearranging of other teams, too. Look, I was upset that JHU was receiving first place votes prior to the tournament but that’s because their resume didn’t match-up (in my opinion) with a few others. I don’t see how any reasonable person can still say that the Blue Jays don’t deserve the top spot after their dominance in the three championship matches including the sweep over Emory. Her vote should be taken away in my opinion. The AVCA does have a reputation to uphold.