STARKSVILLES, Miss. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team finished the 2011 season with an overall record of 42-18 and ranked sixth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II final Poll that was released.
The Cardinals, who saw their season end in the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Championship, had an impressive and historic run through the NCAA Tournament. SVSU rolled-off five straight wins in the Midwest Regional and Super Regional to claim its spot as the only unranked team in the 2011 Championships. After dropping their first game of the Championships and the Tournament, the Cardinals posted two impressive wins over then #25 C.W. Post (2-0) and #2 North Georgia (7-1) to move into the semi-finals, where SVSU would see its run stopped after a 2-1 loss to UC San Diego. The Tritons who would go on to claim the NCAA Division II National Championship the following day with a victory over Alabama-Huntsville.
In all, the Cardinals claimed 11 wins on the season against teams that are ranked or received votes in the final NFCA Poll.
UC San Diego (45-13) received all 16 first-place votes and was followed in the poll by national runners-up and previous No. 1 Alabama-Huntsville (48-6-1) in second.
National semi-finalist Midwestern State (54-14) came in at third, while national championship qualifier North Georgia (53-12) finished fourth. Another national championships qualifier Minnesota State Mankato (54-16) rounded-out the top five by jumping up nine spots from 14th.
Several teams joined the fray this week and were led by another national championship participant, Saginaw Valley, who went from unranked to sixth. Other new teams to the final poll were No. 14 West Alabama, No. 15 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 18 Grand Valley State, No. 24 Arkansas-Monticello and No. 25 Merrimack.
Teams that fell out of the final included No. 9 Dowling, No. 18 Tiffin, No. 20 Indianapolis, No. 22 Lewis, No. 23 Winona State and No. 24 Flagler.
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Final 2011 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Totals |
Last Poll |
|
1 |
UC San Diego (16) |
45-13 |
400 |
16 |
|
2 |
Ala.-Huntsville |
48-6-1 |
384 |
1 |
|
3 |
Midwestern St. |
54-14 |
361 |
5 |
|
4 |
North Georgia |
53-12 |
342 |
2 |
|
5 |
Minn. St. Mankato |
54-16 |
327 |
14 |
|
6 |
Saginaw Valley |
42-18 |
307 |
NR |
|
7 |
Indiana (PA) |
38-8 |
299 |
11 |
|
8 |
West Texas A&M |
50-17 |
256 |
12 |
|
9 |
C.W. Post |
41-16 |
242 |
25 |
|
10 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
45-10 |
242 |
6 |
|
11 |
Bloomsburg |
33-9 |
212 |
10 |
|
12 |
Valdosta St. |
41-11 |
196 |
3 |
|
13 |
Augustana (SD) |
50-11 |
189 |
7 |
|
14 |
West Alabama |
38-19 |
167 |
NR |
|
15 |
Cal St. San B'dino |
35-24 |
132 |
NR |
|
16 |
Rollins |
45-4 |
124 |
4 |
|
17 |
Nebraska Omaha |
47-11 |
119 |
15 |
|
18 |
Grand Valley St. |
41-16 |
100 |
NR |
|
19 |
Hawai'i Pacific |
38-12 |
92 |
8 |
|
20 |
WV Wesleyan |
48-8 |
87 |
19 |
|
21 |
Angelo St. |
45-14 |
82 |
21 |
|
22 |
Emporia St. |
42-16 |
72 |
17 |
|
23 |
Tampa |
39-9 |
72 |
13 |
|
24 |
Ark.-Monticello |
46-16 |
60 |
NR |
|
25 |
Merrimack |
31-23 |
47 |
NR |
Dropped Out: No. 9 Dowling, No. 18 Tiffin, No. 20 Indianapolis, No. 22 Lewis, No. 23 Winona State, No. 24 Flagler.
Others Receiving Votes: Indianapolis 36, Flagler 35, Dowling 34, Cal St. Chico 30, Winona St. 28, Sonoma St. 22, Lewis 21, Kutztown 20, Western Washington 16, Tiffin 11, Lock Haven 8, Carson-Newman 7, Metro St. 6, Barry 5, Missouri Western St. 4, Southern Connecticut 3, St. Mary's (TX) 2, Caldwell 1.