KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Goshen College men's volleyball team achieved its third-highest ranking in program history on Wednesday, checking in at 15th in the NAIA men's volleyball coaches poll. The team has now been ranked in three consecutive national polls and received votes in four straight iterations of the rankings.

This marks the eighth time on record that a Goshen College team has been ranked in the top 15 in the nation and the first time that a GC program has hit that plateau in three consecutive rankings. The men's basketball team and women's basketball team each have back-to-back top-15 rankings in their history.

 (For many sports, the rankings archive is only complete going back to the mid-1990s; for example, the GC men's soccer team was something of a national powerhouse in the early 1970s, going to the eight-team national tournament three times in seven years, but we do not have ranking information from that time period.)

The Maple Leaf men's volleyball program is in its third season as a varsity sport and is one of 58 NAIA programs operating this season. The team is 10-5 overall and 4-2 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play. Last night's loss to Indiana Tech, which was ranked 10th at the time and is now ninth, came after ballots were due for this ranking.

Goshen's 10 wins are the second-most of any team in the top 15, trailing only top-ranked Grand View University of Iowa, which has 12. Third-ranked Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) and 13th-ranked Life University (Ga.) are also undefeated at 3-0 and 7-0 respectively.

Since the previous rating came out on February 10, Goshen was 5-1, with the lone loss coming in five sets to a Mount Mercy University team that moved into the top 15 at number 14. The team went 17-5 in sets in that span and added two WHAC wins, one over an Aquinas team that continues to receive votes and the other over Cornerstone.

Grand View held the top spot for the fourth straight poll, followed by a Campbellsville team that has beaten Goshen twice this season. Two other WHAC teams, Indiana Tech and Lourdes, are in the top 15 at ninth and 10th respectively while Siena Heights and Aquinas each received votes.

Other non-conference opponents that earned mention include Trinity Christian (Ill.) and Webber International (Fla.), both in the "others receiving votes" section.

Goshen plays four home matches and five overall before the release of the next poll, slated for Wednesday, March 10. The team hosts Siena Heights University and Maranatha Baptist University on back-to-back days this weekend before traveling to Indiana Tech next Tuesday in a rematch of last night's thriller. The Maple Leafs also host Judson on Saturday, March 6, and Thomas More on Tuesday, March 9; the last match of that spell will take place after ballots are due but before the poll is released.

All five matches over the next two weeks will be streamed; visit GoLeafs.net for links to watch them.

Goshen College's Known NAIA National Rankings

Men's basketball
Nov. 28, 2012 — #19
Dec. 5, 2012 — #12
Dec. 12, 2012 — #12
Jan. 23, 2013 — #21

Women's basketball
Jan. 20, 2004 — #22
Feb. 10, 2004 — #25
Feb. 17, 2004 — #19
Feb. 24, 2004 — #25
2004 preseason — #18
Dec. 8, 2015 — #24
Jan. 12, 2016 — #21
Jan. 19, 2016 — #21
Jan. 26, 2016 — #20
Feb. 2, 2016 — #18
Feb. 9, 2016 — #19
Feb. 16, 2016 — #18
2016 postseason — #15
2017 preseason — #11

Men's cross country
Oct. 15, 2014 — #17
Oct. 22, 2014 — #20
Oct. 29, 2014 — #21
Nov. 9, 2014 — #20
2015 preseason — #22
Sept. 19, 2019 — #17
Oct. 3, 2019 — #17
Oct. 17, 2019 — #17
2019 postseason — #20
2020 preseason — #18
Oct. 29, 2020 — #14

Women's cross country
Oct. 25, 2002 — #23
Nov. 1, 2002 — #16
Nov. 8, 2002 — #16
2003 preseason — #25
Sept. 19, 2003 — #25
Sept. 20, 2006 — #19
Sept. 27, 2006 — #19

Men's soccer
2007 preseason — #16

Women's tennis
2002 preseason — #23
Feb. 19, 2002 — #24
Mar. 13, 2002 — #24

Men's volleyball
Jan. 27, 2021 — #13
Feb. 10, 2021 — #14
Feb. 24, 2021 — #15