LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After a 4-1 start to the year, including a victory over then-No. 14 Concordia, Northwest Nazarene softball has moved up one spot to 24th in the nation in the first NFCA DII Top-25 of the regular season.

This is the highest ranking in NNU softball history after being ranked 25th a couple of times in the past few years. 

Ranked 25th in the preseason poll, the Nighthawks were supposed to play 11 games over the first two weeks of the season but ended up only playing five due to massive storms in California. Despite the setbacks, NNU swept their three games at the Concordia Kickoff Classic with wins over Stanislaus State, Dominican, and Cal State Dominguez Hills before splitting a doubleheader with Concordia last Thursday.

North Georgia tops the poll, followed by Grand Valley State, West Texas A&M, Tampa, and fellow West Region member Cal State San Marcos to round out the top five. The only other West Region representative in the poll is GNAC rival Western Washington, who jumped all the way from being unranked up to No. 18 after a 9-0 start to the season.

NNU has this weekend off before hitting the road again the following week, visiting Central Washington for doubleheaders on Feb. 23 and 24.