CHARLOTTE, N.C.- In just their third season of competition, the Florida SouthWestern State Volleyball team has reached a new plateau as Tuesday the Bucs moved into the top five of the NJCAA National Rankings for the first time in program history, checking in at #4 in the week three poll.
The Bucs went 3-1 at the Dalton Overstreet Invitational last weekend, defeating #2 Snow and #16 Yavapai as well as a tough Eastern Arizona squad to improve to 5-2 on the year. They have played one of the toughest early season schedules in the country having matched up with six top 20 ranked opponents in their first seven games including three in the top 10.
It has been a highly competitive start of the season for inter-region play with a number of high profile tournaments going on around the country pitting the best of the best against each other and causing some shifting again in the week three poll. Iowa Western holds onto the #1 spot while Miami Dade and Blinn jump up into the #2 and #3 slots ahead of FSW at #4 while Snow and Utah State-Eastern, two of the Bucs opponents last weekend, check in behind them at #5 and #6 respectively. Region VIII has four teams in the rankings for the second straight week with all four climbing from their week two position. Miami Dade and FSW lead the way at #2 and #4 while Hillsborough moves up to #14 and Daytona bumps up to #18.
The Bucs have a busy week ahead starting tonight at 6 PM when they host the aforementioned #2 ranked Miami Dade Sharks in Suncoast Conference action in Fort Myers. They will then hit the road for two to close out the week at Indian River Thursday and State College of Florida Friday.