Orediggers #15 in NAIA Volleyball coaches’ preseason poll

Results of the preseason NAIA volleyball coaches' poll is out and the defending Frontier Conference Champion Montana Tech Orediggers come into the season with a ranking of #15 in the nation.  The following press release comes from Montana Tech Associate Athletic Director Nick Bowsher:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the 2023 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll today. 

The 2022 Frontier Conference Regular season champion Montana Tech Orediggers, who finished the 2022 campaign with a 24-7 overall record, start the 2023 season as the 15th ranked team in the country.  The Orediggers are the only Frontier school in the top 25. Tech finished with a 9-1 conference record last season. Rocky Mountain College is just outside the poll receiving votes.

Jamestown (N.D.) is the No. 1 team in the country to start the year after claiming their first NAIA National Championship last season.  The other institutions rounding out the top five are No. 2 Corban (Ore.), No. 3 Eastern Oregon, No. 4 Concordia (Neb.), and No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa).

The Orediggers open the 2023 season hosting the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge for the eighth time this year. The tournament features four teams in the poll or receiving votes in addition to the Orediggers. Starting Thursday, the ranked teams taking the court in the HPER Complex are No. 3 Eastern Oregon, No. 18 College of Saint Mary (Neb.), (RV) Rocky Mountain, and (RV) College of Idaho.  Oredigger head coach Brian Solomon, who was named the 2022 Frontier Conference Coach of the Year, returns four all-conference selections from a year ago, including All-American and Frontier Player of the Year, Maureen Jessop.

The Orediggers were picked to win the Frontier Conference in the conference preseason volleyball coaches’ poll.

The full list of the national poll can be viewed on the NAIA website.