Lindsey Branch, UMW Sports Information
DILLON, Mont. - The Frontier Conference released the preseason volleyball coaches' poll. The coaches from the league selected Montana Western as the preseason favorite. Montana Western received two first place votes. Providence and Montana Tech each also tallied two first place votes.
The Bulldogs enter the 2024 season as the reigning Frontier Conference tournament champions after they capped off the historic 2023 campaign with an overall 22-8 record. The Bulldogs posted their highest win percentage since the 1996 season and made their first ever appearance in the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Tournament and went 1-2 overall.
UMW will be returning 15 players from last season's conference championship squad, including all-conference players Danyel Martin, Jordan Olson, Jazi Smith, and all-freshman team selection Sophie Worden. In addition, the Bulldogs return standout libero Kelsey Goddard who was third in the conference for total digs (556) and fourth in the conference for digs per set (5.20) after last season.
"We are really excited about this year. We are bringing back a lot of our core after graduating only two seniors," Head Coach Katie Lovett said. "We have a really tough schedule ahead of us, not only in the Frontier Conference, but also with our out of conference schedule as well. We are really optimistic about it and excited about going against some really tough competition early on."
2024 Preseason Coaches' Poll
Montana Western (2) 22
Providence (2) 21
Montana Tech (2) 15
Rocky Mountain 15
Carroll College 10
MSU-Northern 7
Players Mentioned:
#3 Kelsey Goddard L/DS 5' 7" Junior
#8 Danyel Martin MB 6' 2" Redshirt Junior
#19 Jordan Olson RS 6' 1" Sophomore
#11 Jazi Smith OH 5' 11" Junior
#1 Sophie Worden S/5' 8" Freshman
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