LEXINGTON, Ky.- Following a 29-4 season that included a 14th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Southwest Minnesota State women’s volleyball team came in ranked No. 3 in the final American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA) top-25 poll of the season that was announced on Monday.

SMSU was eliminated by Minnesota Duluth in the Central Region semifinal round after defeating eventual national champions, Concordia-St. Paul, in the NSIC Championship to earn an automatic bid into Central Region tournament.

The Mustangs’ conference championship was their second conference tournament title in program history as SMSU finished the year with an 11-4 record against top-25 teams and 5-3 against top-10 opponents.

The 2017 season saw SMSU notch three wins over No. 1 ranked opponents (each against Concordia-St. Paul) in addition to racking up the most wins to start a season in school history (16).

Concordia-St. Paul earned the top spot in the final rankings after defeating Florida Southern in the National Championship to secure a second straight national title. Runner-up, Florida-Southern, came in at No. 2 in the final top-25 rankings of the year.

Minnesota Duluth (4) also cracked the top-five while Northern State (12), Winona State (19), and Augustana (22) made it five total Northern Sun teams to make it into the final poll of the season. Wayne State and Upper Iowa also received votes in the final rankings of the year.

The Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top-25 for 161 consecutive polls, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006, and have made it into the Top-10 for 65 consecutive polls. SMSU has also been ranked in the AVCA Top-5 in the previous 28 polls dating back to last year’s preseason poll.

SMSU, which had four players (Megan Larson, Brooke Borchardt, Taylor Reiss and Kaylee Burmeister) receive AVCA All-American honors, will look ahead to the offseason and the 2018 season. The Mustangs will return three All-NSIC performers including the 2017 Division II AVCA National Player of the Year, Taylor Reiss.

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