Montana Tech Volleyball Team Ranked No. 17 In NAIA Poll

The following is a release from Montana Tech Athletics:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --

Montana Tech finished the 2024 season with a fourth-consecutive NAIA championship appearance, posting a 20-12 record and winning a match in the national tournament.

Three other Frontier Conference programs checked into the top 25 as well, led by conference newcomer and No. 2-ranked Bellevue. The Bruins were the national runner-up a season ago. No. 10 Providence and No. 11 Montana Western also earned rankings. Dakota State, Carroll, and Valley City State all received votes in the poll.

Head coach Brian Solomon returns five all-conference performers for Montana Tech in 2025, led by a first-teamer in senior outside Kinnidi Willmore. Junior setter Rhys Layton was a second-team honoree, and outside Piper Jette garnered freshman of the year honors in the league, highlighting three Oredigger rookies on the all-freshman team.

Montana Tech tips off the 2025 season August 21-23 in the Big Sky Volleyball Classic at the Butte Civic Center. The Orediggers play Campbellsville at 4 p.m. Thursday, August 21 to begin the year.

2025 NAIA Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll

RANK	INSTITUTION	2024 RECORD	POINTS
1	Indiana Wesleyan	37-2	540
2	Bellevue (Neb.)	32-5	522
3	Corban (Ore.)	27-6	493
4	Concordia (Neb.)	27-4	473
5	Eastern Oregon	31-5	459
6	Southern Oregon	32-4	439
7	Northwestern (Iowa)	32-1	423
8	IU Kokomo (Ind.)	33-6	382
9	St. Thomas (Fla.)	33-1	374
10	Providence (Mont.)	27-7	351
11	Montana Western	25-10	317
12	McPherson (Kan.)	30-7	317
13	Oklahoma Wesleyan	31-4	308
14	Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)	31-5	290
15	Aquinas (Mich.)	40-3	277
16	Viterbo (Wis.)	26-11	261
17	Montana Tech	20-12	236
18	College of Idaho (Idaho)	22-14	209
19	Missouri Baptist	27-12	208
20	Midland (Neb.)	18-13	192
21	Nelson (Texas)	31-6	188
22	Marian (Ind.)	25-9	184
23	The Master's (Calif.)	21-8	131
24	William Carey (Miss.)	29-11	91
25	Central Methodist (Mo.)	26-8	85

Receiving Votes: Columbia (Mo.) 62, Texas Wesleyan 52, Morningside (Iowa) 44, Grace (Ind.) 35, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 34, Dakota State (S.D.) 31, CIU (S.C.) 31, Park (Mo.) 31, Indiana Tech 29, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 21, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18, Benedictine (Kan.) 18, Oregon Tech 17, Cornerstone (Mich.) 16, Williams Baptist (Ark.) 16, Bushnell (Ore.) 15, Reinhardt (Ga.) 15, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 10, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 8, Taylor (Ind.) 7, Rio Grande (Ohio) 7, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 6, Cumberland (Tenn.) 6, St. Ambrose (Iowa) 5, Carroll (Mont.) 4, Valley City State (N.D.) 3, OUAZ (Ariz.) 2

Poll Methodology:

The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
- 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
- The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
- Teams receiving only one point are not listed as "receiving votes."

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