Part two!
The power six conferences are known as "power" conferences for a reason. They've got the biggest schools with the biggest budgets and, therefore quite naturally, the best teams. But every so often other teams will crash the party. Some even do so on a regular basis.
You saw me mention Hawaii several times in my rundown of who's played who in the big six post. They are definitely the best team from outside the power six conferences. They have played in the NCAA tournament every year since 1993, and have carried a seed every year since 1997 (remember, only the top 16 teams are seeded). Doesn't look like either streak will be broken this year. The Rainbow Wahine are currently ranked #8 in the nation, having played a strong non-conference season chiefly against the Pac-12. Who better to test yourselves against? Hawaii beat Stanford, but lost to UCLA and (surprisingly, given how both teams' seasons have gone) Cal. They've been extended to five sets twice in early conference play, but haven't suffered a defeat.
Here's another team I mentioned several times in my last post. In the grand scheme, they're a pretty small school, but being located in volleyball's hotbed (Malibu, California to be precise) has enabled the Waves to build a strong volleyball pedigree. While they don't have a long string of tournament appearances the way Hawaii does, they could very well be on the verge of starting one. They certainly look like a tournament team this year, ranked #14 in the most recent poll, and they've got some strong wins to back it up, over Illinois, Florida State, and Ohio State. Interestingly, Hawaii and Pepperdine are two of the very few NCAA programs to offer 'sand volleyball.' It's what everyone else on the planet (who speaks English) calls beach volleyball. Apparently the NCAA came up with that cutesy name so as to not 'alienate' schools that don't have easy access to beaches, schools in landlocked states. Come on, we can play 'beach volleyball' in Switzerland, can't we! But I digress. Pepperdine won't cruise to the conference title like they have in so many past years.
Not with BYU in the league. Granted this is the second year the Cougars have been in the West Coast Conference, and last year they didn't make much noise. It's looking like it'll be a different story this year. The Cougars have an unblemished 13-0 record so far this season, with nine sweeps (including one of Pepperdine). They've also beaten Tennessee, and the ranked-at-the-time Colorado State Rams. They've gone from barely being mentioned on the preseason poll to being ranked #16 on last week's, and I expect they'll make up some ground when today's comes out.
California, and the West Coast Conference, sure do love their volleyball. Don't confuse the San Diego Toreros with the San Diego State Aztecs — while the Aztecs are better in most sports, they surely are not in volleyball. The Toreros played a non-conference schedule befitting of a national heavyweight, getting swept by Texas and extending to USC to five sets before also falling there. Their best win of the season is probably Notre Dame, so they'll need to pick up the pace a bit in their conference season to be looked at for a potential at-large tournament bid. The WCC got one at-large bid last year. It's not inconceivable that they could get two, and all three of these teams could be in, this year.
Here's another team I brought up a few times in my last post. They've got a small run of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, last missing out in 2006. And they played a really strong non-conference schedule, beating Illinois and Pepperdine, but losing to Ohio State, Western Kentucky, Minnesota, and Kansas State (all six said opponents currently nationally ranked). They're off to a good start in Atlantic-10 play, easily defeating Butler and Saint Louis.
I've definitely mentioned the Hilltoppers enough times to warrant including them in this rundown. They've got every reason to think of themselves as a major player. They dropped their first two matches of the season, but c'mon — it was to Louisville and Penn State. You're not gonna lose any sleep losing to those teams. A win over Michigan no doubt is what first got the poll voters seriously looking Western Kentucky's way, and they haven't yet given anyone a reason to discount them, off to a 2-0 start in Sun Belt play. And then we have teams like Colorado State, Creighton, and Pacific, who have a few good wins (and in CSU's case, a previous national ranking) but also very good reasons to sort of mentally brush them to the side (whether it's bad losses or simply a lack of particularly good competition). None of them are in particularly strong conferences for volleyball so I expect they'll all be NCAA tournament teams, but who's to know if they'll make any noise once there. 
Such a cutesy PR campaign, isn't it? In truth, though, NCAA Division II sports are often in kind of a no-mans land, caught between the glitz and and the national spotlight given to Division I, and the more staid, stripped-down atmosphere of Division III, where the 'student' in 'student-athlete' unquestionably reigns supreme.
How can I begin a D-II rundown by talking about anyone but Concordia-St. Paul. As I've noted before, they are perhaps the major powerhouse in all of college sports right now, having won a staggering five straight national titles. They were the unanimous #1 team in the preseason poll. And things started off well for the Bears, convincingly winning their home invitational with three-set sweeps of BYU-Hawaii and Hillsdale, two other ranked teams. But then at an invitational in Colorado, West Florida turned a shocking upset, beating the Bears in four sets. It was the first time they'd fallen to an unranked opponent since even before their run of national supremacy began. They've also lost a conference match to Minnesota State, though that's a little more forgivable as they carry the #12 national ranking. And it was in five sets. These losses have sent the Golden Bears plummeting to…#2 in the nation. Granted they'll probably fall a little more in today's poll, since it'll account for the Minnesota State loss, but this is still a powerful team to be reckoned with.
So who took over the top ranking? Why that'd be the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney. They've been doing even better than their big sisters over in Lincoln. The Lopers have rattled off 11 straight wins to start the season and have only lost two sets in that time, one to that same Minnesota State team that knocked off CSP, and one to the team from Northern State, who though relatively unheralded did beat Minnesota State. Their biggest challenge this season will probably come from a conference-mate.
The Washburn Lady Blues, to be specific. (Quick aside: I've heard of teams having slightly different nicknames for their men's and women's teams, but Washburn's men's teams are called the Ichabods. That's kinda what the hell?) They're also undefeated and have lost just three sets (though two were in the same match). They do battle with Nebraska-Kearney for the first time this coming Saturday, the 29th, and then again on November 10, and probably a third time in the MIAA conference tournament to follow.
The other team receiving first-place votes in the last poll probably won't get any this time, and that was Minnesota-Duluth. Previously undefeated, they lost their first match of the season Saturday, getting swept by fellow top-five team Southwest Minnesota State (what's with Minnesota and D-II volleyball?). This was a conference matchup, and these two teams are also in the same conference as Concordia-St. Paul (the only team to have beaten SMSU so far) so whoever comes out of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference as champions will have earned it.
The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M are kind of a D-II powerhouse. They're really good at pretty much everything, and volleyball is certainly on that list. After a loss to then-unranked Adams State to start the year, the Lady Buffs haven't looked back. At an invitational in Colorado earlier this month, they defeated three top-ten teams (Metro State, Central Missouri, and Tampa) and another who was unranked at the time but is now ranked (West Florida). It's unlikely that they'll run into any trouble in the Lone Star Conference.
One more team to mention, and that's Indianapolis. The Greyhounds were #9 in the most recent AVCA poll and boast wins over Tampa, West Florida, and Hillsdale, and currently are on an eight-match winning streak. Their losses this season are to Central Missouri, a five-set squeaker to a fellow national heavyweight, and to Wheeling Jesuit, another five-set squeaker. Wouldn't be at all surprised if they ran the table in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
And then there are teams a notch down like Angelo State, Grand Canyon University, Minneosta State-Moorhead (there's Minnesota again!) and my own dear Western Washington University, who will all likely be NCAA tournament teams but haven't really gotten any truly marquee wins, so it's tough to put them on the same level as the teams mentioned above.
Just a few words on Division III, since I'm not sure how interested anyone (myself included) is in it. The defending national champions are the Wittenberg University Tigers, out of Springfield, Ohio. They were just #5 in the preseason D-III poll (with three voters ascribing to the Ric Flair school of who's #1), as they graduated most of their championship team from 2011. They've since climbed to #3, but have taken a curious path to get there. They won three matches against ranked opponents in two days at Juniata College's (a perennial D-III powerhouse) invitational, toppling the hosts, Puget Sound University, and the team they beat to win last year's national title. More on them in a moment. But at their own invitational, the Tigers faltered, losing a five-setter to Washington University in St. Louis and a sweep to the Calvin College Knights. Both are ranked teams (top two in the most recent poll, in fact), but those are not good results on your home court. The Tigers are 5-0 away from home and a comparatively paltry 5-2 at their own 'friendly confines.'
Last season's runner-up was Christopher Newport University, out of Newport News, Virginia. They were the preseason #1. Just like Wittenberg, they beat Puget Sound and Juniata at the Eagles' invitational, but they lost out to Wittenberg. They also carry a loss to Emory, but remain well-regarded in the national poll at #5 overall. A win over current #8 Cal Lutheran probably helps there.
The only team besides Washington University in St. Louis to get a first-place vote in the last poll was Hope College out of Holland, Michigan. The Flying Dutch probably won't get any in tomorrow's poll, having since fallen to Calvin (who probably will get a first-place vote or two) in four sets. Their only other loss on the season is to Wittenberg, perhaps showing that what I said in the last post about good volleyball teams not being afraid to face one another extends even into Division III.
The University of St. Thomas in (where else?) St. Paul, Minnesota and SUNY Cortland, together with the aforementioned Washington-St. Louis, Calvin, Emory, Cal Lutheran, and Puget Sound, round out the most recent D-III top ten.
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