DILLON — When Danyel Martin transferred to Montana Western from Lewis-Clark State back in 2019, victories were hard to come by for a program that hadn't qualified for the national tournament in two decades.
"A few years ago we went out and were like, 'Are we going to win or are we going to lose?'" said Martin, a 2018 Ennis graduate. "Whereas now we're like, 'We're going to win or at least try our best to win.' And we know how to play."
The Bulldogs certainly demonstrated that last season, ending a long streak of disappointing seasons as Western won the Frontier Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed and advanced to nationals for the first time since 1998. It was a breakthrough season for head coach Katie Lovett, who was first hired by Western in 2018 and had been methodically guiding her team toward the success it experienced last season.
"It was something really exciting for us," said Lovett. "It's something we've been working for, especially the seniors that I have in this group. We've been working so hard to be a really cohesive team and be a really consistent team."
Western posted an 8-2 record in preseason play and was ranked at No. 13 in the latest NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Poll after being picked to win the Frontier Conference — a promising start as the Bulldogs gear up for their conference opener at home against MSU-Northern on Friday. And for Western's five seniors — Martin, Kaylee Fritz, Kara Pospisil, Peyton Vogl and Jazi Smith — carrying last year's success into this year's preseason indicates that they're primed to do so something special in their final season.
"I think the word 'legacy' has come up a lot," said Smith, who led Western with 97 kills through the preseason. "Even in my freshman year, like (Lovett) said, 'Building a program.' And I just feel like me, as well as all the other incoming freshmen and obviously the seniors who graduated that year as well, has built this program the way it is right now."
The hope now is that Western volleyball continues trending upward. And it'll come down to taking a match-by-match approach to the season, beginning with the Skylights.
"It's a lot about taking it day by day and not getting too far ahead of ourselves," said Lovett. "And focusing on one step at a time."
Montana Western and MSU-Northern are set to play on Friday at 7 p.m.
