LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time in school history, Virginia Wesleyan is the No. 1 team in the county, as the surging Marlins replace Texas-Tyler atop the NFCA Division III Top 25 poll standings.
Virginia Wesleyan (38-5), which ranked third last week, extended its win streak to 17 games after rallying from four runs down with six outs remaining to win 10-9 in nine innings in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship game against Eastern Mennonite.
Texas-Tyler (39-4), meanwhile, lost twice to new No. 8 East Texas Baptist (34-8) in the American Southwest Conference Tournament — including 2-0 in the title game — to fall two places to third, after spending all 10 previous weeks this season in the top spot.
Salisbury (34-4), which has been idle since winning the Capital Athletic Conference championship, maintains the No. 2 slot it moved into last week.
Berry (36-6) is all alone at fourth this week, while Texas Lutheran (41-3) is now tied at fifth with Luther (34-2), the lone team of the three to play this week, going 2-0.
East Texas Baptist had the biggest jump of the week — nine places — after dealing Texas-Tyler its first two losses since February to snap a 33-game win streak. Birmingham-Southern (36-8) in seventh, Emory (40-4) in ninth and Christopher Newport (34-7) at No. 10 remained the same this week.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (34-6) moved into the poll at No. 24 after previously receiving votes, while the University of Chicago (23-8) received votes for the first time this season.
Three-time reigning NCAA titlist Tufts, dropped back out this week, along with Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records through Sunday’s games are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – May 4, 2016
| Rank | Team | 2016 Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Virginia Wesleyan (8) | 37-5 | 200 | 3 |
| 2 | Salisbury | 34-4 | 190 | 2 |
| 3 | Texas-Tyler | 39-4 | 184 | 1 |
| 4 | Berry | 36-6 | 174 | T4 |
| T5 | Luther | 34-2 | 164 | 6 |
| Texas Lutheran | 41-3 | 164 | T4 | |
| 7 | Birmingham-Southern | 36-8 | 148 | 7 |
| 8 | East Texas Baptist | 34-8 | 140 | 17 |
| 9 | Emory | 40-4 | 135 | 9 |
| 10 | Christopher Newport | 34-7 | 123 | 10 |
| 11 | Messiah | 34-3 | 119 | 13 |
| 12 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | 35-5 | 111 | 16 |
| 13 | Alma | 29-7 | 101 | 11 |
| T14 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 31-8-1 | 90 | 8 |
| Illinois Wesleyan | 27-7 | 90 | 12 | |
| 16 | Ithaca | 29-7 | 69 | 19 |
| 17 | Rowan | 32-8 | 64 | 14 |
| 18 | Otterbein | 28-4-2 | 53 | 20 |
| 19 | Moravian | 32-4 | 48 | 18 |
| 20 | Manhattanville | 34-2 | 45 | 21 |
| 21 | Williams | 29-8 | 39 | 23 |
| 22 | Linfield | 29-13 | 34 | 25 |
| 23 | Washington (Mo.) | 34-10 | 25 | 24 |
| 24 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 34-6 | 19 | RV |
| 25 | St. Catherine | 28-7 | 17 | 15 |
Others receiving votes: University of Chicago 14, Whitworth 10, Wheaton (Ill.) 8, St. John Fisher 4, Cortland 3, Gustavus Adolphus 3 and DePauw 3.
Dropped out: Tufts, Wis.-Oshkosh.
