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No controversy this season in the final coaches poll.
For the first time in two years, the national champion was unanimously voted at No. 1 as Loyola finished atop the AVCA coaches poll released Tuesday afternoon.
Loyola defeated Stanford in the NCAA finals on Saturday to win its first national title in program history. It also became the first team since 2008 to finish a season with one loss.
Stanford received all but one second-place vote to finish at No. 2 and 19-points behind Loyola. UC Irvine coach David Kniffin was the lone coach to rank Stanford at No. 3 behind BYU, which the Cardinal beat in the NCAA Tournament semifinals after losing all three previous meetings this season.
Beyond the top of the rankings. Erskine receive three votes to finish outside of the top 15, but became the first Conference Carolinas team to receive votes in the coaches poll’s history. The Fleet won the Conference Carolinas championship and lost to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament play-in match.
Penn State coach Mark Pavlik, NJIT coach Ryan McNeil and Pfeiffer coach Paul Lawson all put Erskine at No. 15 on their ballots.
AVCA National Coaches Poll
1. Loyola — 270 (18) points
2. Stanford — 251 points
3. BYU — 235 points
4. Pepperdine — 211 points
5. UC Santa Barbara — 198 points
6. UC Irvine — 159 points
7. Long Beach State — 142 points
8. Penn State — 132 points
9. UCLA — 130 points
10. USC — 119 points
11. Lewis — 108 points
12. Hawai’i — 77 points
13. Ball State — 56 points
14. IPFW — 36 points
15. Cal State Northridge — 23 points
Others receiving votes: Princeton 8, Erskine 3, Ohio State 1, Harvard 1