Colorado College earned its highest ranking ever when the Tigers moved up six spots to No. 7 in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll of the 2009 season.
The Tigers finished the season with a 35-5 record and advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in the 31-year history of the program. CC earned a bye in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and defeated California Lutheran University and the University of La Verne en route to its first ever regional championship.
“The team lived up to the goals we set at the beginning of the season,” said head coach Rick Swan, who has led the program to the NCAA Tournament in each of his 12 seasons at Colorado College.
“Our goals were winning the regional championship and making it to Cleveland and the Elite 8, being ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season. We accomplished both of those things.”
CC’s previous high in the AVCA poll occurred on Sept. 15 when the Tigers climbed four spots to No. 11 after sweeping No. 15 University of Puget Sound in the final match of the 2009 Molten Volleyball Colorado College Invitational.
The Tigers’ top finish in the final poll of the season was No. 17 in 1999, Swan’s second season at CC.
Colorado College will return all six starters and its libero in 2010, and potentially as many as 14 letter winners.
“We definitely took the program to a new level,” Swan said. “We’re truly excited about the season we had and we’re looking forward to working hard during the offseason and trying to be even better next year. We’ll try to raise the bar a little higher and see what happens.”