HELENA, Mo. – The results of the 2025 Frontier Conference Volleyball Coaches' Poll were announced Monday afternoon by the Frontier Conference office. Carroll College has been picked sixth in the preliminary poll by the league's coaches.

Following an up-and-down 2024 campaign that came to an early end in the Frontier Conference tournament, the Fighting Saints have been picked sixth in the preseason conference coaches' poll.

Last season, the Saints saw their share of successes and failures, spending several weeks in the receiving votes portion of the NAIA Coaches' Polls, but fading down the stretch.

Optimism for 2025 is at a peak however, and a new-look Saints side is ready for the challenges associated with a new-look Frontier Conference. The Frontier Conference expanded to 12 full-time institutions this year, which includes the six established Montana schools (Carroll, MSU-Northern, Montana Tech, Montana Western, Providence and Rocky Mountain) as well as five newcomers from the disbanded North Star Athletic Association (Bellevue, Dakota State, Dickinson State, Mayville State, and Valley City State).  Bismarck State (N.D.) in their first-year of membership with the NAIA this season rounds out the new 12-team league.

While several key pieces from the 2024 team have graduated (Hannah Schweikert, Julia Carr) the Saints feel confident in the return of their top-six kills leaders from a season ago. Spearheaded by a trio that tallied more than 200 kills each last season (Elizabeth Heuiser - 316, Lauren Heuiser - 295, Rachael Stacey - 213), the Carroll Attack aims to be the strength of the team in 2025.

First place is worth 11 points, second place is worth 10 points, third place is worth nine points, and so on to the last place with one point. 

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. 

The top five teams in the 2025 Frontier Conference Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll qualified for the NAIA national tournament last season.  Bellevue, Providence, Montana Tech, and Montana Western each advanced to the national tournament's final site in Sioux City, Iowa, while Dakota State competed in the opening round.

Each Frontier Conference school will play a total of 22 conference matches on their 2025 schedule, playing home-and-away contests against each other institution.  The first conference matchups are set for the first week of September, featuring three matches on September 3.

With Fall practices well underway, the Saints are hard at work in preparations for their season-opening tournament, the Big Sky Challenge, in Butte, August 22-23. Carroll kicks off the 2025 slate with a 9 a.m. tilt against Campbellsville (Ky.) on August 22.

The top eight teams in the Frontier Conference standings will advance to the postseason tournament, hosted by Carroll at the PE Center in Helena.  The three-day conference tournament begins with the quarterfinals on Nov. 13 (Thursday), followed by the semifinals on Nov. 14 (Friday), and the championship match on Nov. 15 (Saturday).

The newly-expanded Frontier Conference will now have two automatic bids for the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Tournament, which begins on November 22.  The opening round winners advance to the final site at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, on December 3-9.

Below is the complete 2025 Frontier Conference Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll:
 

2025 Frontier Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Total Points
1	Bellevue (Neb.) (10)	120
2	Providence (Mont.) (2)	110
3	Montana Tech	96
4	Montana Western	93
5	Dakota State (S.D.)	74
6	Carroll (Mont.)	70
7	Valley City State (N.D.)	68
8	Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	45
9	MSU-Northern	40
10	Dickinson State (N.D.)	27
11	Mayville State (N.D.)	24
12	Bismarck State (N.D.)	22

Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.