SEATTLE (Sept. 4) -- Seattle Pacific University earned its first volleyball national ranking in six years when it was moved up to No. 23 in this week's NCAA Division II poll by the America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

The Falcons (7-1), winners of four in a row, had received votes in the AVCA preseason ranking but had not broken the top 25 since the final poll of the 1995 season when they were No. 22. The only SPU loss this season was to Barry (Fl.), currently ranked No. 10.

An indication of what fierce competition Seattle Pacific faces is the fact that five teams from the Pacific Region are among the top 20, including No. 1 Hawaii Pacific and No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino. Those two teams dealt SPU postseason defeats last season and the Sea Warriors went on to win the NCAA title.

Seattle Pacific opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week. The first of 18 league matches is Thursday night at Western Oregon (3-4).