Rankings and such | DIII Women’s Volleyball

The final regional rankings and the AVCA Week 11 poll have been published.

Region VIII (Week 2, 3 rank)
1 (1,1). Wisconsin-Oshkosh
2 (2,2). Wisconsin-Whitewater
3 (3,3). North Park
4 (5,4). Washington-St. Louis
5 (4,6). Transylvania
6 (6,5). Mount St. Joseph
7 (NR,NR). Millikin
Dropped out: No. 7 Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Region IX
1 (1,1). Northwestern
2 (3,2). Gustavus Adolphus
3 (2,3). Cornell
4 (5,4). St. Olaf
5 (4,5). Saint Benedict
6 (NR,NR). Coe
7 (6,6). St. Catherine
Dropped out: No. 7 Nebraska Wesleyan.

Since Stevens Point got an NCAA bid, we can assume that UWSP was No. 8 in Region VIII. I thought Wisconsin-Eau Claire was at No. 9 and Wisconsin-Platteville No. 10, but we may never know.

What I do know is that Coe and Millikin were new to the rankings and those teams appear to not be reflected in their opponents’ results versus regionally ranked on the final data sheets. I have UWEC at a whopping 8-8 versus ranked opponents and UWP at 3-5 when the dust settled. The data sheets now show UWEC at 6-8 and UWP 2-4 (what they were heading into conference tourneys). Those same data sheets have correct changes reflected in UWEC’s (16-14, .627) and UWP’s (21-8, .607) record and strength of schedule. Their SOS’s heading into the week were .614 and .605, respectively.

Eau Claire should have been given credit for regionally ranked wins over both Coe and Millikin. Platteville’s final accounting should have included a Millikin ranked win and a Coe ranked loss.

Did the committee use the correct results versus regionally ranked opponents and the current data sheet (timestamped 4:33 p.m. 11/12/2023) is merely incorrect? Either way, it is not a good look.

The committee and I disagreed on two of 22 at-large berths. I had Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Wisconsin-Platteville in my projections. Did a clerical error prevent the committee and I from agreeing on all 22?

Someone can check my math because I don’t want to create a situation if there is not one. No matter how many times I refresh and double-check, the final regionally ranked results do not add up.

UWEC (8-8) ranked wins and losses:
W: Whittier; St. Ben’s; St. Kate’s; Cornell; Coe; Millikin; Stevens Point (twice).
L: CMS; Pomona-Pitzer; Gustavus; Northwestern; Whitewater; St. Olaf; Oshkosh (twice).

UWP (3-5) ranked wins and losses:
W: Colorado; Millikin; Stevens Point.
L: Calvin; Whitewater; Coe; Cornell; Oshkosh.

In the AVCA poll, defending champion Juniata heads into NCAA postseason…