The Waldorf University volleyball team has been picked to finish 7th in this year’s North Star Athletic Association.
The 2022 NSAA volleyball coaches’ preseason poll was announced Monday by the conference office. For the first time in eight years, Bellevue (Neb.) is the head coaches’ preseason favorite to win the North Star Athletic Association women’s volleyball title. The Bruins collected five first-place votes and 61 points to claim the top spot in the conference poll. Bellevue went 26-8 overall record and 11-3 record in the league. BU advanced to the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Tournament quarterfinals round before falling to Jamestown (N.D.).
Viterbo (Wis.), who had been selected as the preseason favorite to win the North Star title in the previous seven seasons, finished second in the preseason poll. The V-Hawks collected the remaining three first-place votes and 59 points. VU swept the NSAA regular-season and tournament titles in 2021 and qualified for the national tournament. Viterbo went 1-1 in the national tournament’s pool play and did not advance to the bracket play, completing their astounding season with an overall record of 39-2 and a perfect 14-0 league record.
All NSAA members will be playing a 14-match schedule (7 matches at home and seven matches on the road).
The conference season officially kicks off Wednesday, September 14, with traveling partners playing each other.
Bellevue visits Dakota State, Dickinson State travels to Valley City State, Waldorf host Viterbo, and Presentation welcomes Mayville State.
The top six teams will qualify for the North Star conference postseason tournament on Nov. 11-12. The
the postseason tournament is scheduled to take place at the Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D.
The NSAA postseason tournament’s champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Tournament, scheduled for November 19 at campus sites.
The national tournament’s opening round winners will move on to the final site at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. There will be a new format for the final site of the national tournament, where the teams will have a ‘rest’ day. The pool play begins on November 30 and continues through December 2 (each team in each pool will play two matches). The single elimination bracket play opens on December 3, with semifinals set for December 5 and the championship match on December 6.
2022 NSAA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Poll
Rank School (First-Place Votes in parenthesis) Points
1 Bellevue (Neb.) (5) 61
2 Viterbo (Wis.) (3) 59
3 Dakota State (S.D.) 47
4 Valley City State (N.D.) 36
5 Mayville State (N.D.) 35
6 Presentation (S.D.) 19
7 Waldorf (Iowa) 17
8 Dickinson State (N.D.) 14
