GREAT FALLS — University of Providence's volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Frontier Conference preseason coaches poll Tuesday.
After finishing second in the regular season and falling short in the conference tournament last year, head coach Arunas Duda is excited for this year's squad.
"It's kind of funny because day one of practice, I felt like we've been practicing for a month," Duda said. "They instantly have that chemistry."
Duda enters his 21st season as head coach, and he's earned a handful of accolades over that time. He's also seen a number of great teams, and called this year's group "pretty special."
"We've seen verticals go up. We've seen speed increase," Duda said. "We don't see them for three months in the summer, so a lot of it is up to them and a lot of our girls came in ready to go and in great shape."
Six returning starters are back from last year, one of which is honorable mention All-American Nina Janjic.
She said the team is ready but still has work to do.
"We are going to grow through this preseason and through the season I believe," Janjic said. "We are a really competitive group of girls."
Janjic had 300 kills and hit at a mark of .300 last season — both impressive feats.
Duda said he wants to see Janjic dominate the court this year.
"I think she has that ability," Duda said. "When Nina hits it sounds different. She hits the ball pretty hard."
Another returner to the team is Sadie Lott — a two-time All-American who was a part of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 conference championship teams. She also helped lead those teams to the NAIA national tournament.
"I'm so excited," Lott said. "I was a little nervous coming back in the spring, but I'm glad that I came back in the spring and ready to rock."
Duda said Lott's "been tremendous" since she returned.
"When you have one of your best players in the gym that's just so selfless and would do anything for her teammates, it's hard to not be successful," Duda said. "It's hard not to follow. She brings that every day and it's tremendous leadership."
The Argos begin play Aug. 15 in the Big Sky Challenge. The tournament takes place in Butte.
