LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Owners of the NCAA’s longest active winning streak,Valdosta State was the near unanimous No. 1 choice in this week’s NFCA Division II Poll. 

The Blazers (34-2), who moved into the No. 1 spot last week, picked up 15 of a possible 16 first-place votes and 399 points to strengthen their hold on the No. 1 ranking. Coming off a 5-0 week, VSU outscored its opponents 39-1 and extended its winning streak to 24 games. Behind a pitching staff that twirled two no-hitters and held their opponents to a .087 batting average, the Blazers defeated Lander (12-0 / 13-0) on the road and swept a Gulf South series from Union (3-0 / 9-1 / 2-0).

West Texas A&M, which received one first-place vote and 377 points, remains at No. 2 and is coming off a 4-2 week on the road. The Lady Buffs (27-6) split a mid-week non-conference doubleheader at Lubbock Christian (3-4 / 4-3) and went 3-1 in a Lone Star series at No. 25 Cameron (0-4 / 4-2 / 11-7 / 13-5).

Missouri-St. Louis inched closer to WT, but still stays in the No. 3 hole with 373 points. Outscoring their opponents, 35-6, The Tritons (25-3) swept a pair of GLVC road twinbills from Rockhurst (8-0 / 3-2) and William Jewell (14-1 / 10-3).

Dixie State (351) and Cal State Monterey Bay (320) switched positions as the Red Storm (31-6) moved up to No. 4, while the Otters (30-8) fell to No. 5. DSU had its 23-game winning streak snapped at Southern Utah (4-5), but bounced back with a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Colorado Mesa (11-2 / 9-0).

Monterey Bay had a busy week, putting together a 7-2 mark, which included a 5-2 showing at the tournament of Champions in Turlock, Calif. After sweeping Central Washington (8-1 / 4-1) prior to the tournament, the Otters defeated Northwest Nazarene (9-0), Holy Names (4-0), Central Washington (4-2), Western Oregon (6-0) and Hawai’i Pacific (9-5).

A pair of 6-0 weeks by Georgia College and St. Mary’s (Texas) catapulted those programs to the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. The Bobcats (34-4) swept three doubleheaders from Albany State (15-1 / 5-0), Francis Marion (8-3 / 17-0) and UNC Pembroke (3-2 / 11-5) to extend their winning streak to 13 games.  The Rattlers (28-7) defeated Newman (6-0), Texas Woman’s (11-5 /10-1) and Oklahoma Panhandle State (14-2 / 16-4 / 7-0). 

North Georgia (27-5) moved up a spot to No. 8 after sweeping a non-conference doubleheader from Georgia Regents (2-0 / 9-3).

Joining the top-10 this week are No. 9 Emporia State and No. 10 North Alabama. The Hornets (26-8) went 3-1 in conference play as it split with Pittsburg State (12-4 / 2-9) and swept Missouri Southern (9-1 / 7-4). The Lions (28-5) made the biggest jump using a sweep of Gulf South foe and then-No. 7 Alabama-Huntsville (2-0 in 9 inn. / 3-2 / 3-1) to make the move from No. 15 to No. 10. They also earned wins at Spring Hill (5-4 in 10 inn. / 3-0) earlier in the week. 

Resurfacing in the top-25 this week are No. 17 Humboldt State and No. 23 Arkansas Tech. Riding an nine-game winning streak, the Jacks (28-10) won the Gold Bracket at the Tournament of Champions with a perfect 7-0 record, defeating Western Washington twice (8-0 / 6-1), including the championship game, Chaminade (5-3), Azusa Pacific (5-0), Hawai’i Pacific (2-0), Dominican (Calif.) (10-2) and Montana State-Billings (6-3). The Golden Suns (25-7) dropped their first game of the week and went on to win their final seven.

Falling out of the top 25 were then-No. 19 Central Oklahoma and then-No. 24 Ashland.

The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. 2015 records and previous week’s rankings are shown with first-place votes in parentheses.

NFCA Division II Softball Poll – April 1, 2015

Dropped Out: No. 19 Central Oklahoma (22-11),No. 24 Ashland (17-3)

New to Poll: No. 17 Humboldt State, No. 23 Arkansas Tech

Others Receiving Votes: Caldwell (24), Ashland (18), LIU Post (12), Barry (11), West Virginia Wesleyan (10), Henderson State (8), Winona State (4), Pace (4), Young Harris (2), Metro State (2), Florida Tech (1).