The Concordia volleyball team moved into single digits in the national rankings on Tuesday. The Cobbers are now ranked ninth in the latest AVCA Division III National Poll. CC moved up one spot from last week’s poll after beating St. Olaf and St. Mary’s over the weekend.

Concordia is now 16-3 on the season and has won four straight matches. The Cobbers have also posted 3-0 sweeps in their last nine wins of the year. That includes all five conference victories. CC is 5-1 in the MIAC and tied for first place in the league standings.

Concordia continues to be the top ranked team from the MIAC, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) or Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in this week’s national poll.

The Cobbers are led by the senior quartet of Ashley Beseman, Jenna Green, Amy Sykora and Katie Vohnoutka.

Over the weekend – Sykora finished with 66 assists and now has 635 on the season and 2,710 for her career. She is less than 330 from moving into second place on the school’s all-time assist list.

Green had match-high kill totals in both matches. She had 15 kills and accounted for 8.5 points against St. Olaf and then put up 12 kills and record 13.5 points vs. St. Mary’s on Saturday. Green now has a team-leading 258 kills for the year and 1,217 kills for her career. Vohnoutka posted four kills and had nine points at St. Olaf but then rebounded to come away with 10 kills and 13.5 points against the Cardinals. She also had 14 total blocks on the weekend and now has 264 for her career. Vohnoutka recently climbed into the school’s all-time top 10 block list. Beseman had her best match of the weekend on Friday when she came up with seven kills and 11.0 points against the Oles. Beseman was also a wall at the net on defense. She had 11 blocks in the two matches combined.

Concordia has only one match this week. The Cobbers will travel to St. Paul on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to take on Macalester at 7 p.m.

AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll
2011 Week #6: October 11, 2011
1. Calvin (22) 18-0
2. Washington-St. Louis (2) 21-0
3. Emory 24-1
4. Wittenberg 19-2
5. Eastern 20-1
6. Heidelberg 21-2
7. Southwestern (Texas) 21-2
8. Christopher Newport 21-3
9. Concordia (Minn.) 15-3
10. Carthage 18-4
11. Juniata 16-5
12. St. Thomas (Minn.) 18-3
13. Colorado College 20-5
14. Hope 15-3
15. Cal Lutheran 15-4
16. Univ. of Chicago 20-2
17. UMass-Boston 17-2
18. Springfield 21-0
19. Puget Sound 14-2
20. SUNY Cortland 25-1
21. Elmhurst 19-4
22. Pacific Lutheran 14-3
23. UW-Whitewater 15-5
24. UW-Platteville 17-8
25. Bowdoin 15-1

Others Receiving Votes: Whitworth 25; Otterbein 13; Washington & Lee 13; Wartburg 11; Occidental 5; Tufts 5; Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4; McMurry 3

The Cobber volleyball team cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top 10 for the second time this season. Following their sweep over nationally-ranked St. Thomas, Concordia jumped into the No.10 spot in the latest national rankings.

Concordia is the top ranked team from the MIAC, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) or Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in this week’s national poll.

It is the second time in 2011 that the Cobbers have been ranked 10th in the Division III national poll. They climbed to No.10 on Sept. 20 but then fell back to the 12th spot last week after falling to Bethel 3-2.

Concordia is 14-3 on the season in overall games and 3-1 in MIAC play. The Cobbers are currently tied for first place with four other teams in the league standings. Of the team’s 14 wins this year, six have come against nationally ranked opponents.

The Cobbers are led by the senior quartet of Ashley Beseman, Jenna Green, Amy Sykora and Katie Vohnoutka. Vohnoutka was named the MIAC Hitter of the Week on Monday after hitting .381, putting down 11 kills and adding seven blocks and five digs in Concordia’s 3-0 sweep over nationally-ranked St. Thomas on Wednesday.

Concordia will return to action when they hit the road for their annual conference away doubleheader weekend. The Cobbers will play at St. Olaf on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then travel south to take on St. Mary’s on Saturday at 3 p.m.

AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll
2011 Week #5: October 4, 2011
1. Calvin (21) 15-0
2. Washington-St. Louis (3)17-0
3. Emory 20-1
4. Wittenberg 14-2
5. Eastern 18-1
6. Christopher Newport 18-2
7. Carthage 15-2
8. Heidelberg 18-2
9. Southwestern (Texas)17-2
10. Concordia (Minn.) 13-3
11. Juniata 14-4
12. St. Thomas (Minn.) 16-3
13. Colorado College 17-5
14. Cal Lutheran 13-4
15. Hope 12-3
16. Chicago 18-2
17. UMass-Boston 13-2
18. SUNY Cortland 21-1
19. Puget Sound 12-2
20. Springfield 16-0
21. Whitworth 11-4
22. UW-Whitewater 15-4
23. Pacific Lutheran 12-3
24. UW-Platteville 14-6
25. Elmhurst 13-4
Others Receiving Votes: McMurry 30; Wartburg 30; Bowdowin 26; Otterbein 16; Washington & Lee 16; Occidental 14; Bethany (WV) 6

After a five-year absence, Concordia has once again reached the top 10 in Division III volleyball. On the strength of their 3-1 record, and wins over the No.9 and No.12-ranked teams in the country, the Cobbers jumped into the top 10 of the nation in this week’s release of the AVCA DIII National Poll.

It is the first time that CC has been ranked in the top 10 of the nation since the end of the 2006 season when they spent the majority of the year perched in the top 10.

Concordia was ranked 15th last week but earned wins over #9 Juniata and #12 Colorado College to improve their overall season record 12-2 and jump five rankings slots. The Cobbers are now the highest ranked MIAC team. Defending MIAC regular-season champion St. Thomas dropped down to the No.12 spot after losing to Carthage (Ill.) and Southwestern (Texas) last week.

The Cobbers will now turn their attention to the bulk of the MIAC regular season. The Cobbers will play at Bethel on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. They will then return home to host St. Catherine on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.

AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll
1. Calvin (22) 11-0
2. Washington-St. Louis (2) 14-0
3. Wittenberg 8-1
4. Emory 13-1
5. Eastern 9-1
6. Christopher Newport 9-2
7. Carthage 11-2
8. Heidelberg 10-2
9. Southwestern (Texas) 9-2
10. Concordia (Minn.) 12-2
11. Juniata 6-4
12. St. Thomas (Minn.) 10-2
13. Hope 9-2
14. Colorado College 9-3
15. Cal Lutheran 7-4
16. Puget Sound 10-0
17. Chicago 11-0
18. UMass-Boston 5-2
19. Pacific Lutheran 9-1
20. SUNY Cortland 13-0
21. UW-Whitewater 8-3
22. Occidental 7-2
23. UW-Platteville 8-4
24. Wartburg 9-2
25. Springfield 10-0

Others Receiving Votes: MIT 21; Nebraska Wesleyan 20; Trinity (Texas) 20; Washington & Lee 15; St. Olaf 14; Coast Guard 12; Whitworth 11; Elmhurst 6; Bethany (WV) 2