KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Montana Tech volleyball program climbed one spot to No. 17 in the latest edition of the NAIA volleyball coaches' poll, which was released this week.
The Orediggers improved to 22-6 overall and 7-3 in Frontier Conference play, defeating Montana Western and Rocky Mountain College in straight-set sweeps over the weekend. The Orediggers have won six of seven and are one game back of league-leading Lewis Clark State College (20-8, 8-2) which landed at No. 24 in the poll after not being ranked prior. The Warriors were the only new addition to the coaches' poll this week.
The University of Providence fell one slot to No. 19 in the latest poll, despite winning three of its last four, including a four-set victory over Tech on Oct. 18. The Argos (19-6 7-3) defeated MSU-Northern in four sets on Halloween, then edged Carroll College in a five-set thriller two days later.
Rocky Mountain College (17-11, 7-3) is also within striking distance of the league's regular-season title, and the Battlin' Bears received votes in this week's poll.
This week's Frontier Conference matches pit Tech at Carroll College on Wednesday evening, then the Orediggers host Lewis-Clark State in a key matchup on Saturday. Providence is at Western and at Rocky, while the Battlin' Bears also have a home match against MSU-Northern.
Northwestern (Iowa) received all 21 first-place votes to remain No. 1 in the poll, which is voted on by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groups. Northwestern is 27-0 this season, the lone unbeaten in the top 25.
The latest NAIA women's volleyball coaches' poll can be found below.
NAIA volleyball coaches' poll
Nov. 5, 2019
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Northwestern (Iowa) [21] | 27-0 | 591 |
| 2 | 2 | Missouri Baptist | 27-4 | 572 |
| 3 | 4 | Indiana Wesleyan | 30-1 | 544 |
| 4 | 3 | Eastern Oregon | 26-2 | 530 |
| 5 | 5 | Park (Mo.) | 22-3 | 517 |
| 6 | 6 | Viterbo (Wis.) | 28-5 | 491 |
| 7 | 9 | Southern Oregon | 25-3 | 473 |
| 8 | 8 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 24-4 | 459 |
| 9 | 7 | Columbia (Mo.) | 26-3 | 455 |
| 10 | 10 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 24-5 | 415 |
| 11 | 11 | Grand View (Iowa) | 25-9 | 402 |
| 12 | 15 | Marian (Ind.) | 28-1 | 371 |
| 13 | 13 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 25-6 | 348 |
| 14 | 12 | Corban (Ore.) | 17-7 | 347 |
| 15 | 14 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 27-3 | 338 |
| 16 | 17 | Concordia (Neb.) | 21-4 | 306 |
| 17 | 18 | Montana Tech | 22-6 | 293 |
| 18 | 22 | Oklahoma City | 28-1 | 252 |
| 19 | 18 | Providence (Mont.) (Mont.) | 19-6 | 251 |
| 20 | 23 | Lawrence Tech (Mich.) | 27-2 | 250 |
| 21 | 24 | Midland (Neb.) | 17-9 | 195 |
| 22 | 20 | Dordt (Iowa) | 18-9 | 142 |
| 23 | 24 | Hope International (Calif.) | 18-8 | 130 |
| 24 | NR | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 20-8 | 117 |
| 25 | 21 | College of Idaho | 15-10 | 112 |
Others receiving votes: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 102, Reinhardt (Ga.) 89, Westmont (Calif.) 85, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 75, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 61, Saint Francis (Ind.) 50, Saint Mary (Neb.) 23, Vanguard (Calif.) 19, Thomas More (Ky.) Saint Mary (Kan.) 5, Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Xavier (La.) 3
