The Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team cracked into the top 10 with a No. 9 ranking in this week’s NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, which was released on Tuesday.

The ranking is the highest by the Warriors this season. LCSC, which has won a program record 20 straight matches to begin the season, is just one of three undefeated teams in the NAIA. Fresno Pacific, which holds down the top spot, is 18-0 and received all 26 first-place votes.  The Indiana Institute of Technology, like LCSC, is 20-0 and is ranked No. 17 in the poll.

The Warriors were ranked No. 11 in last week’s poll, but climbed two spots after a tough five-game win over the College of Idaho last week. LCSC had 535 points, just one more than No. 10 Azusa Pacific and 16 points behind No. 8 Lindenwood of Missouri.

LCSC was a regular in the NAIA Top 10 during the mid-to-late 1990s. During the 1995 season, the Warriors reached a program-best No. 2 ranking, and LCSC also was ranked No. 3 during the first week of October during the 1997 season.

LCSC also was ranked No. 4 in the final 1998 poll when the Warriors tied for third at the national tournament. They also started that season as the No. 4-ranked team.

The Warriors begin the second half of Frontier Conference play on Thursday when they hit the road to take on Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. On Friday, the Warriors travel to Dillon, Mont., to face Montana Western. Both matches begin at 6 p.m.  LCSC is 7-0 in FC play and has a two-game lead in the conference standings.