CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Wabash Valley Warriors have achieved a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA Division I baseball poll.
The 44-9 Warriors moved up one to the top spot in the weekly poll, released on Monday.
"The guys are a great group," said coach Aaron Biddle. "They play together, they work together, and they enjoy being together. For all that hard work, to be recognized is awesome."
Biddle is in his first year as Wabash Valley head coach, after serving as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Rob Fournier for seven years. Fournier left after last year to join the staff at Western Kentucky University.
WVC received 157 poll points and five of seven first-place votes from the nationwide panel. Former No. 1 Walters State, Tennessee (48-8) moved up one spot to second, with 152 points. Last week's top-ranked team, Central Florida (46-6) fell two sports to No. 3.
Johnson County, Kansas (45-7) and Central Arizona (46-10) switched places to land in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The top 10 rounds out with Crowder, Missouri (45-11) in sixth, followed by Florence-Darlington, South Carolina (47-9), Weatherford, Texas (42-9), Santa Fe, Florida (39-8), and Barton, Kansas (43-8) in the No. 10 spot.
There was not a lot of movement in this week's poll, with the biggest movers gaining only two spots: No. 14 Miami-Dade, Florida (31-13), and Connors State, Oklahoma (48-5), up to No. 17.
No. 18 Delgado, Louisiana (39-11) fell five spots from 13th.
A second member of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and NJCAA Region 24, John A. Logan (36-14) remained at No. 20.
Despite not returning a single starter from last year's 59-9 fourth-place Juco World Series team, Wabash Valley has been ranked in each of the 10 polls issued this season. The Warriors entered at No. 8 in the pre-season listing and were No. 10 in the first weekly poll of Feb. 27 after going 14-6 in a grueling southern start to the season.
WVC has been on a tear since returning north, winning 30 of its' last 33 games, including the current winning streak of 18 straight.
"We started over with a new bunch this year," Biddle said. "To be able to come out and play the way we have been able to play and prove what we are capable of doing has been fun to watch."
The Warriors were ranked No. 1 in the final poll for three consecutive years, from 2019-2021 (including the COVID-halted 2020 season). Last year, Fournier's Warriors were ranked No. 2.