KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rocky Mountain College will begin the 2019 season this afternoon ranked No. 13 in the 2019 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The Battlin' Bears received 300 points.
The poll is voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
University of Providence was the only other Frontier Conference team to earn a ranking this year. The Argos finished with 183 points. The poll predicts a different picture of the upcoming season to that of the Frontier Conference's Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll released last week. The conference poll ranked the Battlin' Bears second behind the Argos.
Rocky finished last season 30-6 overall and were the regular season champions. Providence handed the Battlin' Bears their only loss to a Frontier team last season in the Frontier Conference Championship. Both teams continued to the NAIA tournament where the Battlin' Bears advanced to championship bracket play and finished ninth. The Argos finished in 17th.
Last year, Rocky received 77 votes, but did not earn a ranking in the 2018 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The team finished the season ranked No. 13 in the NAIA's Coaches' Postseason Poll.
The 2019 season marks the first for head volleyball coach
Yang Yang who took over the program earlier in the year after the retirement of head volleyball coach, Laurie Kelly.
The Battlin' Bears play their season opener today in Fullerton, California as part of the 2019 Summer Slam tournament. They face off against University of St. Francis at 2 p.m. PDT. before taking on Benedictine University at Mesa at 8 p.m. PDT. The action will continue tomorrow with matches against The Master's University and tournament host Hope International University.
RANKING SCHOOL(FIRST PLACE VOTES) POINTS
| 1 |
Park(18) |
498 |
| 2 |
Columbia |
480 |
| 3 |
Grand View |
451 |
| 4 |
Missouri Baptist |
428 |
| 5 |
Viterbo |
425 |
| 6 |
Southern Oregon |
422 |
| 7 |
Northwestern |
418 |
| 8 |
Midland |
381 |
| 9 |
Lindsey Wilson |
369 |
| 10 |
Eastern Oregon |
366 |
| 11 |
Dordt |
329 |
| 12 |
College of Idaho |
320 |
| 13 |
Rocky Mountain |
300 |
| 14 |
Hastings |
298 |
| 15 |
The Master's |
292 |
| 16 |
Aquinas |
224 |
| 17 |
Central Methodist |
218 |
| 18 |
Vanguard |
216 |
| 19 |
Corban |
204 |
| 20 |
Jamestown |
198 |
| 21 |
Providence |
183 |
| 22 |
Bellevue |
165 |
| 23 |
Westmont |
130 |
| 24 |
Marian |
124 |
| 25 |
Ottawa |
91 |
