FrogJump Top 20: D3 Review 3/30/2022

The FrogJump Top 20 is our Power Ranking of the DIII Men’s Volleyball Landscape. Our algorithm uses a host of different variables, including the cumulative statistics of D3VB men’s programs throughout the season. This allows us to reflect the ever changing dynamics within the landscape as teams compete to be the best in the nation.

The better a team performs, the higher they’ll climb in our model. As it stands, only match data up to 3/29/2022 was taken into account (sorry Messiah, the 2nd win over Stevenson will be calculated next week).

1. Springfield: The Pride remain the best team in the landscape according to our model, and will take on a red hot New Paltz team in a huge rivalry match tonight. Springfield defeated the Hawks 3-1 at the Hawks Nest last go around and will have home court advantage tonight in volleyballs Mecca, Blake Arena. The Hawks will be walking into a raucous crowd and the match is guaranteed to get heated. Get after it.
   
   
2. Carthage: The Firebirds have recovered from their Championship hang over, and are cruising toward the end of the regular season in top form. They’re coming off a straight dismantling of their closest CCIW competition NCC, and finished their week with a sweep over MSOE. They’ll play Millikin tonight, before hosting Loras this Saturday to conclude their regular season play.
   
   
3. Dominican: The Stars haven’t lost since February 4^th, and currently sit on a 15 match win streak. Further, the Stars are 6-1 in cincoset matches which is one of my favorite stats of the year. Winning is hard, winning in 5 is harder, winning 6 of 7 cincoset matches is a sign of greatness. Grit and resilience are the keys to success in April, and the Stars have demonstrated it consistently all year. Bow to the bush, and always mix in a water.
   
   
4. Rutgers-Newark: Rutgers took advantage of a long road trip for SVU and thoroughly dominated their CVC match to secure the number one seed in the conference tournament. They concluded their regular season with a sweep of Immaculata and won’t play again until the CVC Tournament.  
   
5. Southern Virginia: The Knights were able to recover from their loss to Rutgers with a convincing sweep of Kean university. They’ll finish their regular season with matches against UCSC (Friday) and Lancaster Bible (Saturday).
   
   
6. North Central: The Cardinals are undefeated against everyone not named Carthage this year and are still in a prime position for an at-large bid if they fall short in the CCIW Tournament. They’ll finish their regular season with matches against Loras tonight and Millikin on Saturday.
   
   
7. Stevens Institute of Technology: The Ducks have a big tri-match this weekend, as they’ll play Arcadia and Messiah to determine final seeding for the MAC Tournament. All eyes will be on the Messiah match, as the Falcons have surged into the MAC championship conversation with two convincing wins against Stevenson. The final pecking order of the conference will be determined Saturday at 3PM EST.
   
   
8. Vassar: To everyone writing off Vassar, do so at your own risk. The Brewers are one of the most talented teams in the country and are quite capable of pounding balls through your courts floor whenever they wish. A loss to UVC Rival New Paltz aside, Vassar will still be a player in the UVC Championship conversation. As I always say, if you can win the UVC, you can win it all. They’ll take on Elms tonight, and finish their regular season with matches against SUNY Poly and Baruch on Saturday.
   
   
9. Wentworth Institute of Technology: The Leopards play Emmanuel on 3/31, but will look to lock up the number one seed in the GNAC tournament this weekend with matches against Rivier and Regis.
   
   
10. New Paltz: The Hawks end of season stretch so far has seen them wrack up wins against DI/II St. Francis – Brooklyn, NYU, and most recently Vassar. They’ll travel to the Mecca tonight and take on Springfield in the latter part of the two programs home-and-home series. The Mecca is one of the most hostile environments to play in, and having already lost to Springfield once this season the Hawks backs will be against the wall. Their season won’t let up after tonight, as they’ll need at least one win against Nazareth or Elmira this weekend to lock up the number 1 seed in the UVC Tournament. Rooting for you to win out boys, see you.
    
    
11. Juniata: The Eagles concluded conference play with a sweep over Elizabethtown, securing the 3 seed in the CVC tournament. They’ll take on Wells and Elmira in a tri-match in upstate New York to finish their regular season.
    
    
12. Stevenson: Following their loss to Messiah last night, the Mustangs are fairly locked into the 3rd seed in the MAC tournament. They’ll conclude their regular season with a tri-match against Eastern and Wilkes Saturday to make seeding official.
    
    
13. Messiah: The Falcons flew under the radar for most of the season following their rough start, but two convincing wins over Stevenson has reminded the landscape they are still in the conversation to retain their conference championship. They’ll look to play for the number one seed in the MAC this weekend against Stevens.
    
    
14. Marymount: Following their loss to Vassar, the Saints racked up wins against Randolph-Macon and Immaculata before getting swept by Juniata in conference play. They’ll be the 4^th seed in the CVC tournament and conclude their regular season games with a match versus PSU-Altoona on Friday.
    
    
15. St. John Fisher: The Cardinals will play upstate rival Nazareth tonight as they celebrate Senior night. They’ll conclude regular season games a tri-match against Mount. St. Joseph and Wittenberg on Saturday.
    
    
16. Loras: The Duhawks will look to rebound from their upset loss to MSOE last weekend when they host CCIW rival North Central. The Cardinals won their first match this season, but a full strength Duhawks makes this game one to keep an eye on for upset potential tonight.
    
    
17. Nazareth: The Golden Flyers will host upstate rival St. John Fisher tonight as they celebrate Senior night for their last match of the season. Final seedings won’t be known until after this weekend, but the Golden Flyers have already locked a spot in the UVC Tournament. They’ll play their next opponent (whoever it is) April 2^nd.
    
    
18. Benedictine: The Eagles have two conference matches left to conclude their season, traveling to Marian Friday before heading to CUW on Saturday. Benedictine currently sits at 9-1 in conference play, and is looking to lock up the 2^nd seed by winning out.
    
    
19. St. Joseph’s College – Long Island: SJCLI breaks into our top 20 for the first time this year. Coach Kropps boys will end the season as the 1^st seed in the Skyline Tournament and look to reclaim a chance to compete in April following their loss to New Jersey City University last year. The tournament begins April 7^th.
    
    
20. Endicott: The Gulls have one last test tonight against MIT, before playing Nichols in their last conference match of the season on Sunday. The winner between them and Nichols will secure the 1^st seed in the NECC. Endicott has long had an iron grip on this conference since its inception, so they’ll enter the match as the heavy favorites.

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