KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Montana Western and the University of Providence climbed into the top 15 and five of the six Frontier Conference volleyball programs at least received votes in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Rating, which was released Wednesday.
After an 8-2 start for Montana Western that featured wins over No. 5 Viterbo and four other teams that received votes in the preseason poll, the Bulldogs climbed two spots from No. 15 to No. 13.
Providence also rose eight spots from No. 23 to No. 15. The Argos finished their weekend at the CSM Labor Day Classic with a win over preseason No. 6-ranked Midland University.
Rocky Mountain College, Montana Tech and Carroll College all received votes.
Frontier Conference matchups begin Sept. 13 for all six programs. Rocky Mountain College takes on Montana Tech in Butte, Providence travels to Helena to face Carroll College, and Montana Western will host MSU-Northern. All three matchups start at 7 p.m.
Northwestern (Iowa) is the new top-ranked team after previous No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan tumbled to No. 7 in this week's rankings. The complete poll is below.
2024 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Rating — No. 2
Sept. 4, 2024
Dropped from the Top 25: Missouri Baptist, Valley City State (N.D.), College of Saint Mary (Neb.), Montana Tech, Ottawa (Kan.), Kansas Wesleyan
Receiving Votes: Missouri Baptist 103, College of Idaho 100, Valley City State (N.D.) 86, Cumberlands (Ky.) 83, Keiser (Fla.) 56, Benedictine (Kan.) 44, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 32, College of Saint Mary (Neb.) 32, Montana Tech 32, Ottawa (Kan.) 29, Dakota State (S.D.) 19, Nelson (Texas) 17, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 15, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 11, Carroll (Mont.) 11, Bethel (Kan.) 10, Hastings (Neb.) 9, Kansas Wesleyan 5, Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) 5, Mobile (Ala.) 2, Oregon Tech 2.
