Oct. 4, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team has placed fifth in the first NCAA South Region rankings which were released Wednesday afternoon. It is just the third time in school history that a Lady Topper team has been ranked in a regional poll -- WKU appeared in the first two South Region (then known as District IV) rankings in 1998, topping out at No. 5 on Sept. 23, 1998.
Western is the highest-ranked Sun Belt Conference team in the initial regional survey. Southeastern Conference power Florida leads a group of four SEC schools at the top of the South Region rankings. South Carolina is in second, followed by Tennessee and Alabama. The only other Sun Belt squad to appear in the poll was Arkansas-Little Rock, which was rated eighth. The complete poll may be found at www.avca.org.
The South Region is comprised of teams from the Sun Belt, SEC, Southern Conference and Trans America Athletic Conference, as well as independents Centenary and Texas-Pan American. The rankings are conducted on a bi-weekly basis by the members of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.
Western Kentucky (15-3, 4-0 Sun Belt) returns to action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) when it travels to Jonesboro, Ark., for a conference match with defending SBC co-champion Arkansas State.
