Moving down in the national rankings just isn't that big of deal for coach Joel Walton this early in the season.
Four days before playing its season opener, the Ball State University men's volleyball team dropped two spots to No. 13 in the newest top 15 coaches poll released Monday.
"It's not that significant," Walton said. "It's not critial to me that we dropped. We haven't played. Until we play and show our body of work and win matches, it's hard to justify any rankings we get."
The Cardinals received 50 votes — 23 fewer votes than in the preseason poll — as the University of Hawai'i and UC San Diego moved ahead of Ball State.
Hawai'i (2-1) jumped four spots to No. 8 after defeating No. 1 University of Southern California Saturday. UC San Diego (1-2) also moved up two spots with 65 votes, despite losses to No. 10 UCLA and No. 3 UC Irvine at the Santa Barbara Invitational.
After learning the results of this week's poll, Walton said he was not too surprised his team dropped spots.
"These early season polls are everyone's best guess at where teams are going to be at this season," he said.
The coaches poll is comprised of 16 voters, including Walton. The 12th-year coach said he voted Ball State in the top 15 this week, but declined to comment on where he specifically ranked his team.
Along with Ball State, all three Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association ranked teams moved down in this week's poll.
Ohio State University moved down one spot into a tie with UC San Diego at No. 11. The Buckeyes — the defending conference champions and preseason favorite to win the MIVA — lost to USC, Hawai'i and No. 6 Penn State University last week at the Outrigger Invitational in Hawaii. Lewis University, which also did not play last week, dropped one spot to No. 15 and received 25 votes — four fewer votes than in the preseason poll.
This is the second consecutive season the Cardinals have dropped in the coaches poll before playing its season opener. Ball State moved down one spot to No. 13 in last season's coaches poll before losing to then-No. 4 Stanford University in its season opener.
Ball State finished last season No. 13 in the final coaches poll and lost to Ohio State in the conference championship match for the second consecutive season.
Returning six starters from the 2009 team, Ball State will open its season against Loyola University at 8 p.m. Friday in Chicago. Loyola received five votes in Monday's coaches poll.
Despite moving down in the new poll, Walton said he does not see that being any additional motivation for his team entering its season opener.
"I hope our team's sole focus is Loyola. Not the polls. Not the preseason rankings," he said. "We are walking into a tough environment and have to have one of our best matches of the season to win."
Coaches poll
1. USC — 217 (6) votes
2. Cal State Northridge — 207 (5) votes
T-3. Stanford — 201 (3) votes
T-3. UC Irvine — 201 (2) votes
5. BYU — 187 votes
6. Penn State — 159 votes
7. Pepperdine — 153 votes
8. Hawai'i — 124 votes
9. Long Beach State — 117 votes
10. UCLA — 107 votes
T-11. Ohio State — 65 votes
T-11. UC San Diego — 65 votes
13. Ball State — 50 votes
14. UC Santa Barbara — 34 votes
15. Lewis — 25 votes
Others receiving votes: St. Francis 6; Loyola 5
Parentheses indicate first-place votes
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