Wayne State College remained #1 in the third and final NCAA Division II Central Region Volleyball Rankings announced Wednesday afternoon by NCAA.  The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Division II National Tournament November 30-December 3.  Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the GAC, MIAA and NSIC Postseason Tournaments with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
            Wayne State is one of seven NSIC schools listed in the rankings and is first with a 26-1 NCAA overall record as of November 12th.  Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State from the NSIC remained second and third in this week's ranking with Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma from the MIAA each moving up one spot to close out the top five teams.
            Nebraska-Kearney slipped two spots to sixth, St. Cloud Stat moved up one spot to seventh, Northern State at eighth, Minnesota Duluth ninth and Winona State 10th.  The NCAA Volleyball selection show will be streamed online on Monday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.
            Wayne State is 28-1 on the season following Tuesday night's 3-0 sweep over Sioux Falls in the opening round of the NSIC Volleyball Tournament.  The Wildcats meet #8 St. Cloud State Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the NSIC Tournament semi-finals that will be held at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
 
NCAA Central Region Volleyball Rankings
(records as of November 12, 2023)
            Last week's Ranking   Overall  In-Region
1.         Wayne State (1)            26-1      25-1
2.         Concordia-St. Paul (2)   25-2      23-2
3.         Southwest Minnesota (3)   23-5      21-4
4.         Central Missouri (5)       21-7      18-4
5.         Central Oklahoma (6)     26-4      24-4
6.         Nebraska-Kearney (4)    24-4      24-4
7.         St. Cloud State (8)         20-7      16-6
8.         Northern State (10)        19-8      18-8
9.         Minnesota Duluth (7)      17-9      14-8
10.        Winona State (9)           18-9      17-8