Some GNAC teams have received no love in the AVCA Top 25 this year, but the West Region rankings are a different story and that’s the one that counts anyway.

Led by the Seawolves, the GNAC has five teams in the top seven in this week’s regional rankings with two weeks left in the regular season. UAA is third, followed by UAF, Simon Fraser, Western Washington and Central Washington.

The West Region is made up of the GNAC, Pac West and CCAA, but unlike the other two leagues, the GNAC does not have a conference tournament, so the regular season is make or break in terms of qualifying for the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Neither UAA (which is the top-ranked GNAC team in the West Region rankings) nor Central Washington (which is in sole possession of first place in the GNAC) has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 this season, although they have both received votes for the vast majority of the season and got as close as No. 27.

West Region Rankings

RK	TEAM	CONF
1	Point Loma	Pac West
2	Fresno Pacific	Pac West
3	UAA	GNAC
4	UAF	GNAC
5	Simon Fraser	GNAC
6	Western Washington	GNAC
7	Central Washington	GNAC
8	Cal Poly Pomona	CCAA
9	Cal State LA	CCAA
10	Hawaii Hilo	Pac West

Point Loma (21-2) and Fresno Pacific (22-0) out of the Pac West rank 1-2 in the regional poll and are a combined 39-2 against West Region competition.

UAA (19-5) leads a pack of five GNAC teams in the regional poll – but the differential has got to be razor thin because of the parity in the best Division II league on the left coast.

Take the three nationally ranked teams in the league, who have fared better against some of the top teams in the country than they have against teams from the GNAC.

No. 12 Simon Fraser (17-4) is 7-1 against ranked teams but has gone 0-2 against UAA and 1-1 against UAF and No. 15 Western Washington (18-4) is 5-2 against ranked teams but split with UAA while the No. 18 Nanooks (20-4) are 3-3 against ranked teams, with all three of those losses coming in GNAC play.

The GNAC regular-season champion and the Pac West and CCAA Tournament champions receive automatic berths to the NCAA West Regional Championships, along with the next five highest ranked teams at the conclusion of the season.

The final public regional poll will be released Nov. 19, with the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field on Nov. 23.

GNAC Volleyball

● Thursday
UAA at NW Nazarene
Western Oregon at MSU Billings
UAF at Central Washington
Saint Martin’s at Seattle Pacific
● Saturday
Saint Martin’s at MSU-Billings
Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific
UAF at NW Nazarene
Simon Fraser at Western Washington
UAA at Central Washington
● Thursday, Nov. 20
MSU-Billings at UAA
Seattle Pacific at UAF
NW Nazarene at Simon Fraser
Central Washington at Western Washington
● Saturday, Nov. 22
Seattle Pacific at UAA
Western Oregon at Saint Martin’s
MSU-Billings at UAF
Central Washington at Simon Fraser
NW Nazarene at Western Washington
END REGULAR SEASON