BUTTE — Montana Western volleyball's memorable 2023 campaign garnered the Bulldogs some preseason kudos with the 2024 season just a week away.
A year after claiming the Frontier Conference tournament title and qualifying for the NAIA women's volleyball championship for the first time since 1998, the Bulldogs were the top pick in the preseason coaches poll, which was released during the conference's Media Day on Tuesday afternoon.
The Frontier released its preseason coaches poll this afternoon and defending tournament champion Montana Western was selected at No. 1. Western, Providence and Tech (the two-time regular season champ) each received two first-place votes. #mtscores pic.twitter.com/NnqwX0bKoN
— Luke Shelton (@lukeshelton_mtn) August 6, 2024
Western earned 22 votes and the University of Providence was in second place with 21. Tied for third place were Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain College with 15 votes apiece followed by Carroll College with 10 and MSU-Northern with 7.
Western, Providence and Tech received two first-place votes.
Last year's Frontier season saw the Orediggers emerge as regular-season champions for the second straight year. And for the second straight year top-seeded Tech was then upset by Western in the tournament semifinals.
The Bulldogs then toppled the reigning tournament champion Battlin' Bears in five sets in the title match (in a rematch of the 2022 tournament championship) to earn an automatic berth to the national tournament.
Rocky and Tech earned at-large bids with the Battlin' Bears falling in its opening-round match. Both Tech and Western advanced to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa, with both programs seeing their seasons come to a close in pool play.
The Bulldogs will open their season at the College of Idaho Preseason Tournament on Aug. 16 while the other five Frontier programs will kick things off at the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge in Butte which opens on Aug. 15. Conference play is set to open on Sept. 13.
