KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Union College collected a few more votes in the latest Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday.

The Lady Bulldogs (23-4 overall, 14-1 Appalachian Athletic Conference) picked up four total points to put them in a tie with two other schools for 39th place.

There is a tie among the top-five teams for the first time this season. Northwestern College (Iowa) moves into a deadlock with California Baptist University as the No. 2 team in the ninth edition of the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) continues as the No. 1 team, earning all 25 possible first-place votes for 715 points. Concordia University (Calif.) and Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) remain at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.

When Northwestern moved to No. 3 in last week's poll, it marked the first time all season that a non-Golden State Athletic Conference school had occupied one of the top-three spots. This week's move to No. 2 for the Red Raiders also marks the first time a non-GSAC has been ranked second.

Six teams exchanged ranking throughout the Top 25 with Biola (Calif.) moving to No. 10, taking the place of last week's No. 10 Vanguard (Calif.), now ranked 11th. Bellevue (Neb.) moves up to No. 14, while Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) slips back a spot to No. 15. Taylor (Ind.) improves one spot to No. 16 with Indiana Tech dropping back to No. 17. Taylor's improved ranking is the highest for the Trojans since climbing to No. 13 on Oct. 26, 2004.

No. 20 Doane (Neb.) is this week's biggest mover, bumping up five spots after defeating then-ranked No. 18 Morningside (Iowa) in five sets. The loss pushed the Mustangs back six spots to No. 24. Westmont (Calif.) is the only new addition to the poll, reappearing on the poll at No. 25 after receiving votes for four weeks.

The season's No. 1 thus far, Fresno Pacific has yet to share a single first-place vote with any other team in the poll. Head coach Dennis Janzen has his team sporting a flawless record of 27-0 and is 16-0 in GSAC action. The Sunbirds opened a tough three-match stretch with a convincing three-set (25-20, 25-20, 25-19) win over No. 4 Concordia on Oct. 31. Fresno Pacific's load doesn't lighten however, hosting No. 5 Azusa Pacific on Tuesday and hits the road for a Saturday showdown at No. 2 California Baptist. The last meeting with the Lancers was the only time that the Sunbirds have been pushed to five sets this season.

Second-ranked California Baptist (680 points) must recover and rebound from a 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 25-21) road loss to No. 10 Biola before hosting Fresno Pacific on Saturday. The Lancers hit just .154 (53-29-156) and were out-dug (64-57), out-blocked (10-9) and out-aced (9-6) for the first time this season in the loss to the Eagles. Head coach Ryan McGuyre's team will have to get back on track on the road at The Master's (Calif.) on Tuesday. At 23-3, 13-3 GSAC, California Baptist sits just ahead of Azusa Pacific in the league standings.

Northwestern (30-2, 16-0 GPAC) climbs to its highest ranking of the season at a tie for No. 2 with 680 points. The Red Raiders concluded Great Plains Athletic Conference action on Oct. 31, with a 3-0 sweep of Dordt (Iowa) to finish with a 16-0 record and claim its second-straight league crown. Northwestern enters the GPAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will have a first-round bye. Kyle Van Den Bosch will prepare his club to face the winner of Tuesday's opening round winner between ninth-seeded Midland Lutheran (Neb.) and eighth-seeded Sioux Falls (S.D.).

Concordia remains at No. 4 with 646 points despite suffering a 3-0 (20-25, 20-25, 19-25) setback to top-ranked Fresno Pacific on Oct. 31. The loss dropped the Eagles to 24-5, 11-5 GSAC on the season and was the second loss via shutout of the season for Concordia, both of which were to the Sunbirds. In league standings, the Eagles slipped to fourth. Four conference matches are left on the schedule for Concordia, including a home match against San Diego Christian on Tuesday, followed by a Saturday match at No. 15 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.).

With 612 points, Azusa Pacific (20-7, 11-4 GSAC) holds steady at No. 5. The Cougars notched a straight-set (25-20, 25-21, 25-23) victory over then-No. 10 Vanguard on Oct. 31, to register their sixth-straight 20-win season. The win propelled Azusa Pacific to sole ownership of third place in the GSAC standings with an 11-4 mark. That conference record is the best through 15 conference matches since 2002 for the Cougars and it is was the third time in sixth-year head coach Chris Keife's tenure that his team has picked up 20 wins before Nov. 1. The Cougars will take on No. 1 Fresno Pacific in Fresno, Calif., on Tuesday and host The Master's on Saturday.
To view the entire poll, click here.