LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Fresno Pacific women's volleyball team broke through the Top 25 national rankings on Monday afternoon, while also receiving their fourth PacWest Team of the Week honor. The undefeated 'Birds dominated in the non-conference matchup against previously fifth-ranked Point Loma and had dual sweeps over Menlo and Jessup, which resulted in their No. 19 placement in the AVCA rankings.

The Sunbirds were receiving votes for two consecutive weeks, garnering a ton of attention on the national level until they finally broke into the Top 25 on Monday, October 13. The team earned the No. 19 spot in the AVCA, making their first appearance in the rankings since 2013. The 2013 FPU volleyball team was in the Top 10 in the first week, but later fell to No. 23 by week 7.

On top of the impressive new ranking, Fresno Pacific captured their fourth PacWest Team of the Week honor after going 3-0 on the week. Against PLNU, the Sunbirds clinched the first two sets with ease, lost the third, and rallied in the fourth to come back, winning with scores of 25-13, 25-14, 14-25, 25-21. The Blue and Orange then swept past Menlo College on Thursday with scores of 25-13, 25-15, and 25-18, followed by the win over Jessup on Saturday. FPU is officially 9-0 this year against PacWest opponents, but only three games have counted toward their conference record.

Freshman outside Madelyn Feramisco leads the team in kills (141) and service aces (17). Mikayla Weiss, the Sunbird of the Week, had an incredible performance last week, hitting a double-double in the big win over No. 5 PLNU (31 assists and 13 digs) and capturing her first triple-double of the season in the sweep over Menlo (10 digs, 10 kills, and 26 assists). Weiss ranks fourth in conference in assists. Starting middle blocker Geneva Elliott sits 4th in the nation and third in the conference in hitting percentage. Elliott also leads the team with 49 blocks. Defensively, Devyn Casteneda has secured her spot as libero and tallied 205 digs this season.

The 'Birds are on a fifteen-win streak, have ten clean sweeps on the season and have climbed the charts in conference, coming up second behind Point Loma who remains ahead with their 4-0 conference record.

The No. 19 'Birds are just getting started! FPU volleyball takes on Azusa Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 16th at 6pm and Vanguard on Friday, Oct. 17th at 5pm.

SUNBIRD SOCIAL 

• X - @fpusunbirds 
• Instagram - @fpusunbirds 
• Facebook - /FPUsunbirds