In a week that six teams in the bottom half of the coaches poll moved spots, the Ball State University men's volleyball team stayed put.
The Cardinals received 25 votes — five more votes than last week's poll — but for the third consecutive week were ranked No. 15 in the newest coaches poll released Monday.
Ball State extended its winning streak to four matches with victories against Lewis University, King College and St. Francis University last week. In addition, the road win against Lewis — which received eight votes and is listed outside the rankings at No. 16 — moved Ball State into third place in the conference.
The Cardinals were one of three Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association teams ranked in this week's poll.
Ohio State University (18-7, 10-1 MIVA) jumped up two spots to No. 11 after sweeping Loyola University and Lewis to move into first place in the MIVA. The Ramblers (18-4, 10-1 MIVA) dropped back two spots to No. 13 with the loss to the Buckeyes.
Ball State will conclude its regular season with a match against Ohio State at 7 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Ohio, and a home match against Loyola at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
The greatest drop in the poll came from Penn State University — moving down three spots to No. 12. The Nittany Lions went winless on its West Coast road trip, including losses to then-No. 11 UC Santa Barbara and No. 3 Cal State Northridge.
Penn State's losses resulted in UC Santa Barbara moving up two spots to No. 9 ,and UC Irvine also moving up two spots to No. 8 in this week's poll.
The coaches poll is comprised of 16 voters, including Ball State coach Joel Walton.
Coaches poll
1. Stanford (18-5) — 238 (14) votes
2. BYU (20-7) — 218 (3) votes
T-3. Cal State Northridge (20-7) — 202 votes
T-3. Pepperdine (15-8) — 202 votes
5. Hawai'i (17-8) — 184 votes
6. USC (14-10) — 158 votes
7. UCLA (15-12) — 134 votes
8. UC Irvine (14-13) —124 votes
9. UC Santa Barbara (12-15) — 98 votes
10. Long Beach State (12-15) — 92 votes
11. Ohio State (18-7) — 85 votes
12. Penn State (20-7) — 69 votes
13. Loyola (18-4) — 57 votes
14. UC San Diego (9-18) — 31 votes
15. Ball State (17-9) — 25 votes
Others receiving votes: Lewis 8 votes
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