Virginia Wesleyan new Unanimous No. 1 in NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Virginia Wesleyan jumped two places this week to take over the No. 1 spot in the NFCA Top 25 softball rankings, returning to the position it held for two weeks last May.

The (29-1) Marlins, who went 4-0 over the last week, also jumped from third to first last season, when they ranked No. 1 in Division III for the first time in school history on May 4 and held that spot for two straight weeks. Like then, they received all eight possible first-place votes.

Berry (29-2), who had been No. 1 the past three weeks, dropped to third after a 4-1 week, which included an eight-inning loss to DePauw. Reigning national champion Texas-Tyler (28-2), meanwhile, remained the No. 2 team off a three-game sweep of Concordia.

Trine (21-1) stayed at No. 4 and Luther (20-2) moved up two places to No. 5 to complete an unanimous first five teams in the rankings.

The Marlins have won 13-straight contests to gradually climb up the national polls, last falling to No. 10 Christopher Newport in extra innings on March 12. Virginia Wesleyan is most recently coming off a tough road trip, going 4-0 against Emory & Henry and Guilford.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions.

No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan travels to No. 16 Randolph-Macon on Wednesday for an important ODAC doubleheader. Links to live stats and video can be found on the schedule page.