Wednesday, February 18, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alaska Anchorage, the No. 1 ranked team in NCAA Division II, also earned the top seed in the inaugural NCAA West Regional rankings released Wednesday.

Seattle Pacific and Western Washington also appeared in the poll at No. 5 and No. 10 respectively.

The West Region ranking will eventually determine the five West Region at-large teams that will make the regional field along with the GNAC, PacWest and California Collegiate Athletic Association champions.

The Seawolves claimed the top spot after a 23-1 campaign with wins over Division I teams in Yale and Utah in an exhibition as well as West Regional teams Hawaii Pacific, Seattle Pacific and Western Washington.

The No. 15 nationally-ranked Falcons started off the year winning 14 of their first 15 games including taking an overtime victory against West Regional power Humboldt State. SPU is currently in second place in the GNAC with an 11-3 record.

The Vikings crushed then No. 6 Tampa in the WWU Lynda Goodrich Classic and since Jan. 3 have gone 11-2 in conference play. WWU is just behind SPU at 11-4 in the GNAC standings.

Alaska Anchorage was followed on the poll by No. 22 nationally-ranked Humboldt State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Baptist. The other regional teams include Hawaii Pacific, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino and Point Loma Nazarene.

The Seawolves lead the GNAC with a 13-1 record and are two games away from clinching the GNAC regular-season title. Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are in a tight battle for the last remaining first-round bye in the upcoming GNAC tournament which will be held March 4-7 in Billings, Montana.

NCAA Region play will begin Friday, March 13 at a site to be determined.

The NCAA will announce the West Region participants, as well as the regional host, on Sunday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific. A webcast of this announcement will be shown on NCAA.com.

WEST REGION – 1. Alaska Anchorage (21-1); 2. Humboldt State (19-3); 3. Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-5); 4. Cal Baptist (20-4); 5. Seattle Pacific (18-3); 6. Hawaii Pacific (19-4); 7. Cal Poly Pomona (17-5); 8. Cal State San Bernardino (17-5); 9. Point Loma Nazarene (14-9); 10. Western Washington (16-7). (Note: Record listed is versus Division II opponents).