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Jonathan Bates | Off the Block associate editor
There is a tie for first place in the latest Off the Block/Springbak Division II National Coaches Poll that was released Tuesday.
Both Lewis and Concordia-Irvine split the eight first-place votes to finish tied at No. 1. Also, Barton closed the gap with the fourth-place team to its narrowest margin all season — two points.
Lewis dropped a pair of MIVA conference matches on the road — at No. 3 McKendree, and at Ohio State. The Flyers conclude their regular season and MIVA conference play with road matches at Quincy and Lindenwood.
Concordia-Irvine jumped from No. 2 in the poll after its reverse sweep at BYU last week. The Eagles also dropped a four-game match at Stanford. The Eagles conclude their regular season with a pair of home matches – versus the NCAA Division III team UC Santa Cruz and versus MPSF foe USC.
No. 3 McKendree split their home matches last weekend by beating No. 1 Lewis in four games but dropping a four-game match versus Loyola. This weekend, the Bearcats end their regular season and MIVA conference play with two road matches — at Ball State and at Fort Wayne.
No. 4 UC San Diego was swept in a pair of matches versus Hawai’i this past weekend. This weekend, the Tritons have a home-and-home series with Long Beach State.
No. 5 Barton has narrowed the margin between them and the fourth-place team in the poll on the strength of their 12-match win streak and a 13-0 conference record. The Bulldogs were off this week but play three matches in the next eight days to conclude the regular season.
Both NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II men’s volleyball programs compete for the same national championship. The AVCA National Coaches Poll ranks the top 15 Division I-II men’s volleyball teams and is released each Monday during the regular season.
A national voting committee comprised of coaches from the more than 20 Division II teams determines the weekly rankings for the Division II National Coaches Poll.
Off the Block is a website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the Division II National Coaches Poll and produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB and U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.
The Division II National Coaches Poll will be released on the Off the Block website every Tuesday during the regular season.
Off the Block/Springbak Division II Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous | Trend |
| T-1 | Lewis | 16-10 | 36 (4) | 1 | — |
| T-1 | Concordia-Irvine | 13-14 | 36 (4) | 2 | +1 |
| 3 | McKendree | 11-12 | 24 | 3 | — |
| 4 | UC San Diego | 9-14 | 12 | 4 | — |
| 5 | Barton | 17-6 | 10 | 5 | — |
Others receiving votes: King 1, Lindenwood 1