After going 3-1 since the first regular-season NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll was released in December, the Benedictine women’s basketball team moved up when the second regular-season poll was released on Tuesday.

Benedictine (11-4) moved up to No. 14 from No. 15 and remained the second-highest member of the HAAC ranked in the Top 25.

Only two schools from the HAAC are currently ranked, with everyone chasing No. 5 MNU. The Pioneers moved up from No. 6 to a tie for No. 5 this week.

Baker University, the Ravens Thursday night opponent, along with Central Methodist University, were each listed in the others receiving votes category.

Heading into their fourth HAAC game of the season, the Ravens rank No. 9 in NAIA Div. I in total 3-pointers with 112. They ranked No. 12 in total scoring offense with 1,150 points, No. 14 in total assists with 221 and No. 15 in 3-pointers per game with an average of 7.5.

Individually, Justice Payne is currently ranked fifth in NAIA Div. I in total 3-pointers with 46 and is sixth in 3-pointers per game with an average of 3.1.

Chayla Rutledge is ranked No. 14 in field goal percentage with an average of 51.3 percent.

Benedictine hosts Baker at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before hitting the road on Saturday for a 2 p.m. Top 25 showdown with MNU in Olathe.

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The No. 15 ranked Benedictine (Kan.) College women’s basketball team took on NAIA Div. I No. 2 Oklahoma City University on Friday afternoon and earned their sixth straight win, downing the Stars 81-74.

Benedictine (10-3) started the game on a 19-4 run and never looked back as they handed Oklahoma City (4-1) their first loss of the season. The only tie of the game was at tip-off as Benedictine led from the start and pushed ahead by as many as 19 points before settling for the seven-point win.

The Ravens used a 58.3 percent effort from behind the 3-point arc in the first half to ignite their hot start while limited the Starts to just 29 percent and nine first-half field goals.

Oklahoma City cut Benedictine’s second-half lead down to three points with five minutes remaining only to see the Ravens extend their lead back to double figures, outscoring the Stars 20-16 down the stretch.

Benedictine hit 80 percent from the charity stripe, knocking in 16 of 19 in the second half. They converted 13 of 14 down the stretch to hold off the late offensive surge put on by the Stars.

Benedictine finished at 45.5 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from beyond the arc. The 11 3-pointers matched their previous season high, which came nearly two weeks ago in a win over Avila while the 3-point percentage established a new season high.

The Ravens scoring effort was very balanced as four players finished in double figures. Justice Payne led the Ravens with 15 points, followed by Erin Murphy and Rosie Youngstrom with 14 points. Katie Barr added 12 points while Jackie Ziesel scored 9 points to lead the Ravens bench-scoring effort.

Benedictine is off until Jan. 4 when they travel to Denver, Colo., to take on Johnson & Wales University and Arizona Christian at a classic hosted by Johnson & Wales.

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For the first time since making the move to the NAIA Div. I level, the Raven men’s basketball team is nationally-ranked.

Riding a eight-game winning streak, the Ravens jumped from the receiving votes category to No. 13 in the first regular season NAIA Div. I Top 25 Coaches’ poll on Tuesday when the poll was released.

The Ravens were the biggest mover in the poll this week, jumping 20 spots from their preseason ranking. Benedictine received five Top 25 points in the preseason poll and were the ninth team listed in the others receiving votes category.

“The first NAIA Division I ranking for our program is exciting and a tribute to the hard work and dedication our players and staff have put in to this point,” said Raven head coach Ryan Moody. “We have a long season ahead of us, this is just a snapshot. We are honored but we know we have a tough road in front of us.”

Benedictine is one of three teams ranked in the first regular season poll with the conference chasing No. 5 Evangel. Off to a 9-1 start, the Crusaders moved from a preseason ranking of No. 9 while Culver-Stockton College, at 8-1, remained at No. 18.

MNU is the fourth team listed in the others receiving votes category while Graceland University also garnered seven top 25 points to give the HAAC five nationally-recognized programs.

Benedictine returns to HAAC play on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game against Central Methodist University. The Eagles are 7-5 this season and 0-1 in the HAAC. They have two losses against current NAIA Div. I No. 1 Columbia (Mo.) College and one of their wins is over preseason No. 21 Park University.

As a team, the Ravens currently rank No. 1 in NAIA Div. I 3-point field goal percentage at 47.4 percent. They are also ranked No. 7 in field goal percentage with an average of 52.2 percent.

Individually, the Ravens have two players through nine games ranked for their efforts from beyond the 3-point arc. Shawn Fleming Jr., ranks No. 1 at 60.0 percent as one of four players currently hitting that percentage. Brett Fisher is ranked No. 9 at 54.8 percent.

After taking on CMU on Saturday, the Ravens will host top-ranked Columbia College at 1 p.m. Dec. 18, to wrap up their 2013 schedule.

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The NAIA released the first regular season Div. I Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday and the Raven women’s basketball team was among the top 15 in the country.

Winners of four straight and five of their last six, Benedictine (8-3) dropped from their preseason ranking of No. 12 to No. 15.

The Ravens win over Grinnell on Monday did not factor into the poll but the current winning streak helped keep Benedictine ranked inside the top 15 along with their tough non-conference schedule.

Two of Benedictine’s three losses have come against NAIA Div. II nationally-ranked opponents – current No. 2 Northwestern (Iowa) College and No. 15 College of St. Mary (Neb.). The Ravens third loss was at the hands of Friends University, who is currently the third team listed in the receiving votes category of the NAIA Div. II poll.

Benedictine is one of three teams from the HAAC to be ranked in the first regular season NAIA Div. I poll. The conference is still chasing defending champ MNU, who is ranked No. 6, while Central Methodist University moved from the preseason receiving votes category to No. 19 in the poll with their 8-1 start to the season.

The Ravens take on Central Methodist at 2 p.m. Saturday in Fayette, Mo., in an early-season showdown for a foothold on one of the HAAC’s top spots.

As a team, the Ravens currently rank inside the top 20 in NAIA Div. I in several statistical categories. They ranked 11th in 3-pointer field goals (72), they are 16th in total assists (149), they are 16th in total scoring offense (762) and are 19th in both total offensive rebounds (430) and 3-pointers per game (7.2).

Individually, Justice Payne ranks in the top 10 in two three-point categories. She is ranked eighth in 3-pointers (31) and 3-pointers per game (3.1). Chayla Rutledge is ranked 16th in field goal percentage (54.9).

In addition to two games each against MNU and Central Methodist, the Ravens have a fifth game against a current member of the NAIA Div. I Top 25. They travel to Oklahoma City to take on No. 2 Oklahoma City University on Dec. 20 to close out their 2013 schedule.

The Mid-South Conference has the highest number of member schools ranked in the latest poll with four. Six other conferences, including the HAAC, have three members ranked in the poll.

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The Benedictine College Raven men’s basketball team jumped out to a quick lead on Tuesday night and never looked back as the earned a 72-52 win over NAIA Div. I preseason No. 21 Park University.

The win for Benedictine marked their sixth straight as they improved to 6-1 after dropping their 2013-14 season opener back on Nov. 1.

Benedictine hit 50.9 percent from the floor in the win while holding Park to 36.1 percent.

The Ravens were led in scoring by Charlie Wallrapp with 22 points while Shawn Fleming Jr., added 10 points off the Raven bench that scored 25 points.

Park was led by Nigel Van Oostrum, who scored 10 points, and was the only Pirate to reach double figures.

Benedictine is off until Dec. 5, when they travel to Peru, Neb., to take on Peru State College in their HAAC opener.

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After finishing the regular season at 11-4-1 and with a No. 16 ranking in the final NAIA regular season Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Sunday, the Benedictine College men’s soccer team earned their first-ever host bid on Monday afternoon when the 2013 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Tournament Opening Round pairings were released.

Benedictine earned the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament and will host Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the BC Soccer Complex.

“We are certainly excited to host the first-ever national tournament game on campus in the history of our program,” said head coach Rob Herringer. “We’ve been playing soccer now for 53 years and for this game to be here on campus is going to be a special moment for our alumni, our current players, our students and staff.

“We couldn’t be more excited to play this game.”

Olivet Nazarene earned their bid to the tournament by winning the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament. They enter the game with an overall record of 15-5-1 and are making their third appearance in the National Tournament.

“They are a strong program and have a good reputation as a soccer program,” Coach Herringer said. “They made it to the national tournament, so you know they have to be pretty good. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them.

“We don’t know much about them and that’s a good thing for us. Sometimes we know too much about our opponents and that’s not always a good thing. It’ll be nice to play someone different.”

The trip to the Opening Round marks the third time in the past five years for Benedictine and their fifth overall appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.

General admission tickets for the game at $10, with student tickets going for $8 and youth tickets available for $5. Tickets can be purchased on site on the day of the game.

The winner of the game advances to the national tournament site in Montgomery, Ala., with the National Championship running from Dec. 2-7.

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For the second time in the last three seasons, the Benedictine College football program has qualified for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football Championship Series.

Benedictine, who finished the regular season at 10-1 and as co-champions of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) finished at No. 8 in the final NAIA regular season NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Sunday and learned Sunday afternoon they will host No. 11 Tabor College in the NAIA FCS Opening Round on Nov. 23.

“We’re very pleased to have accomplished all of our goals so far this season,” said Raven head coach Larry Wilcox. “We’re really proud of our players for what they have done this season. To go from being selected as the fifth team in our conference in the preseason to finish as co-champs and ranked in the Top 10 are certainly great goals to have achieved.

“To host a home playoff game for our campus and for our family here at Benedictine College is a great thing.”

Tabor finished the regular season at 9-2 and finished second in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) behind NAIA FCS first-time qualifier Sterling (Kan.) College.

Benedictine and Tabor have face each other four times, but not since wrapping up a four-game series in 1977. The Ravens lead the series 4-0, which includes a pair of 56-0 wins over the Bluejays to conclude the series in 1976 and 1977.

“Tabor is a school that has made dramatic changes to their athletic department and specifically their football program since the last time we played each other,” Wilcox said. “They have a great coach in Mike Gardner. He has been able to bring credibility and great success to Tabor.

“They have a great running attack, a very aggressive defense and put a lot of emphasis on special teams.”

Benedictine will host the game at 1 p.m. Saturday on O’Malley Field at Larry Wilcox Stadium. More information on ticket sales will be released on Monday at  www.ravenathletics.com with information regarding advanced ticket sales starting on Tuesday afternoon.

The appearance in the NAIA FCS marks the 12th time in the modern era of Benedictine football, which started with the return of football to campus in 1973, in which the Ravens have qualified for the postseason. The host bid marks the first time since the 2001 season that the Ravens will open the FCS on campus.

In 2011, the Ravens qualified for the NAIA FCS and traveled to Kentucky to take on Georgetown (Ky.) College. Georgetown beat Benedictine, 21-7.

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After moving to No. 16 in the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll early in the day Sunday, the Raven men’s soccer team learned of their postseason fate Sunday night as they earned their second straight berth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

Benedictine, who was listed at No. 6 in the final MRPI rating that was released at the same time as the 2013 tournament qualifiers, earned the No. 4 at-large bid this season.

“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to play in the NAIA National Tournament,” said head coach Rob Herringer. “This will be our third appearance in five years and, as an alum of the college and soccer program, I couldn’t be more proud of our players for what they have accomplished.”

The Ravens earned a share of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) this season and finished with an overall record of 11-4-1.

Benedictine’s MRPI was the highest among HAAC members as they finished the regular season at .809222. Missouri Valley College was listed at No. 9, followed by MNU at No. 10 while Baker University, the HAAC Tournament Champion, was the final HAAC team listed in the Top 30 at No. 15.

Baker finished the regular season at No. 3 in the final coaches’ poll, MNU at No. 6, Benedictine at No. 16 and Missouri Valley at No. 20 to give the HAAC four teams ranked in the final regular season poll.

The Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round pairings and bracket will be unveiled via a live graphical show on Monday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. Monday.

The 32 teams are comprised of 23 automatic qualifiers – which earned berths by winning conference, independent and unaffiliated grouping tournament or regular-season titles – and nine at-large teams selected by the final Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI), announced today.

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