AU Volleyball Stays At No. 6 In Third Set Of Regional NPI Rankings

In the third set of NCAA Power Index (NPI) regional rankings for Division II volleyball, released on Monday (Nov. 2) morning, Ashland University's volleyball team is in the No. 6 spot in the Midwest Region for the third week in a row.
 
The Eagles remain the top team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 19-5 overall and 13-1 in the league. The East Division champions, who have clinched a home Great Midwest Tournament quarterfinal match on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m., will return to the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium for the first time in nearly five weeks for Senior Night, Friday (Nov. 6) at 6 p.m. vs. Ohio Dominican (21-6, 11-3).
 
"Very happy to be regionally ranked going into the final week of regular-season play," said Ashland head coach Alicia Wood. "We have some big matches to wrap up the conference slate, which will give us a chance to increase our NPI, and potentially raise in regional placement if we succeed.
 
"It is a very exciting time of year for us and we're so proud of the hard work our Eagles have put into these accomplishments thus far. Still more work to do."
 
Each of the top six spots in the Midwest did not change from the previous week's regional rankings.
 
NPI regional rankings will continue to be released in D-II volleyball daily until the NCAA Division II volleyball selection show on NCAA.com at 10 p.m. on Nov. 15.
 
Ashland volleyball has qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs nine previous times (2004-07, 2012-13, 2016, 2018 and 2022).
 
A 64-team tournament (eight teams in each of eight regions), the D-II postseason will begin on Nov. 19. The 2026 NCAA Division II Championships will be in Kansas City, Mo., from Dec. 3-5.
 
In the Midwest Region, three automatic bids come from the tournament champions in the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The other five bids are at-large. Thirty-eight teams are eligible for postseason – 13 from the Great Midwest, 11 from the GLIAC and 14 from the GLVC.
 

TEAM	THIRD RANKING	SECOND RANKING	FIRST RANKING
Ferris State	1	1	1
Indianapolis	2	2	4
Missouri-St. Louis	3	3	2
Grand Valley State	4	4	3
Rockhurst	5	5	5
ASHLAND UNIVERSITY	6	6	6
Ohio Dominican	7	8	7
Drury	8	9	12
Cedarville	9	10	11
Davenport	10	7	13