Skyd Power Rankings: College Women’s DIII (04/14/12) – End of Season

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1. Valparaiso (Great Lakes, Last week: 1)

Took third at Chicago Invite—they look good, and have been putting in the work needed to help them succeed in the post season. Will they be challenged in their region to get to Appleton? Not likely, as most of the Great Lakes D-III teams do not roll as deep as they do, and do not have as many top-level returning players. Look forward to seeing them as the 1 seed in Appleton.

2. Claremont (Southwest, Last week: 2)

The Greenshirts have not played since Centex, but have some good momentum working with them into the post season. They have great results over Occidental, the other strongest D-III team in the Southwest, and should handily take the bid to the big show.

3. Carleton-B (North Central, Last week: 3)

With only 2 bids in the North Central do D-III Nationals, Carleton-B will have to play well this weekend in Grinnell, Iowa for the North Central D-III Conference Championships that dictate bids for the Championships. Eclipse is poised to win the region, but depending on the weather, may be challenged by the Grinnell or Drake.

4. Bowdoin (New England, Last week: 14)

Chaos Theory heads into the post season undefeated by huge margins in all of their sanctioned games. They managed to fly under the radar thus far, but they are on the rise. With Smith committed to going Division-1 if they qualify (they can’t make nationals due to half of their squad graduating), Bowdoin could very well take the cake in the New England.

5. Stonehill (New England, Last week: N/A)

They rolled through competition at their home tournament. These ladies waited a while to compete in sanctioned games, like Bowdoin, but we will be watching them closely as the post season progresses.

6. Williams (New England, Last week: 4)

Rachel Kessler is back, but Baecher is out. Their O is good, but they struggled with taking control of the tempo of the game earlier this season. Can Kessler and Emily Darling take control against a team like Bowdoin? The New England D-III Regional championship bracket will be an exciting match up.

7. Pacific Lutheran (Northwest, Last Week: 8 )

PLU won two years ago—these ladies have performed strongly over the past few weeks, indicating that they could win their region and head to Appleton.

8. Elon (Atlantic Coast, Last Week: N/A)

They won the Nutty Huck last weekend over some good regional competition, which surely helps their seed going into Conferences this weekend. They’re poised to face Mary Washington in finals.

12. Truman State (South Central, 15)

TSUnami secured a big win over Drake on universe at Chicago Invite. Truman finished off the regular season well, showing they have improved tremendously over the course of the season (especially their man-offense sets) and are peaking at the right time. They don’t have to play at conferences and already have the 10 games necessary to secure their bid. We’ll see them in Appleton.

On the Radar

Drake (North Central, Last Week: 7)

Ibex faultered at Chicago Invite. Going into the post season, they are going to have to perform to secure that second bid out of the North Central.

Oberlin (Ohio Valley)

Does Praying Mantis have what it takes to contend with Haverford? We’ll find out in a few weeks.

What about Smith, Rice, and Swarthmore?

These teams have confirmed the Division-1 route for varying reasons.

The Division-III Women’s Rankings are compiled by a panel consisting of players, coaches, and Skyd Magazine contributors. If you are interested in participating, please contact Robyn at robyn@skydmagazine.com.

Feature photo of Oberlin’s Kayla Emrick lays out for a throw from Margaret Rosano by Christina Schmidt (UltiPhotos.com)