The Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team has been picked as the favorite to win its fifth straight Frontier Conference title by the league’s coaches in their preseason poll, which was recently released.
The Warriors drew five of the eight first-place votes (coaches weren’t allowed to vote for their own team) to finish with 46 points. Carroll received the remaining three first-place votes and finished second in the poll with 42 points, followed by Rocky Mountain with 41 and Westminster with 31. Great Falls was picked fifth with 23 points, followed by Montana Tech with 17, Montana State-Northern at 15 and Montana Western at 8.
A first-place vote is worth seven points; a second-place vote is worth six, and so on down the line. LCSC received one second-place and one third-place vote along with the five top finishes.
The Warriors have won the last four FC regular season and conference tournament titles. First-year coach LaToya Harris is looking to continue that success after taking over from Jen Greeny, who was hired at Washington State University last spring.
Harris inherits a team that went 31-3 last season and made it to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA national tournament. LCSC returns nine players from that team, including senior Nicole Graybeal, who earned first-team NAIA All-America honors and was the conference’s Player of the Year. Fellow seniors Lauryn Herrick and Kelli Tikker were first-team all-conference selections as well last season.
LCSC also has a strong nucleus of newcomers into the program, led by sophomore setter Nevena Dragovic, who earned first-team all-Golden State Athletic Conference honors last season at Cal-Baptist University.
LCSC will play host to an Alumni exhibition match at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will feature former Warrior players against the current team. Admission is free to the match at the LCSC Activity Center.
The Warriors open their season on Aug. 26-27 in La Mirada, Calif., at the Biola Holiday Inn Summer Slam. On Aug. 26, the Warriors will play Cal State San Marcos and Westmont College, and then meet Southern Oregon and Biola on Aug. 27.
After a tournament in Bellevue, Neb., the Warriors will hold both their home and league opener on Sept. 8 against Rocky Mountain at 7 p.m. LCSC will have seven home matches this season, all against league opponents.
