BISMARCK, ND (PlayNorthStar.com) – Viterbo (Wis.) tallied six first-place votes and 48 points to secure the top spot in the 2023North Star Athletic Association Coaches’ Preseason Poll, announced Monday by the conference office.
Bellevue (Neb.) picked the final first-place votes and 43 points to finish second in the preseason poll.
Viterbo (29-8 overall record in 2022) and Bellevue (28-8 overall record) shared the North Star Athletic
Association regular-season title last season with 13-1 record each. The V-Hawks defeated the Bruins in the
postseason tournament’s championship match. Both teams advanced to the national tournament, advancing to
the final site’s pool play and did not advance to the single elimination play after going 1-1 record in pool play.
Mayville State (N.D.) (17-18 overall record in 2022) edged Dakota State (S.D.) (17-17 overall record in 2022) 31-
29 to finish third in the poll. Both teams were 7-7 record and tied for third place in the NSAA conference
standings last season.
Valley City State (N.D.) (11-17 overall record, 6-8 NSAA conference record in 2022) placed fifth in the poll with
21 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) (4-23 overall record, 2-12 NSAA record in 2022) and Waldorf (Iowa) (11-13
overall record, 2-12 NSAA record in 2022) finished in a two-way tie for sixth place in the preseason poll with 12
points each.
All NSAA members will be playing a 12-match schedule (6 matches at home and 6 matches on the road).
The conference season officially kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 13 with traveling partners playing each other.
Dakota State travels to Bellevue, while Viterbo hosts Waldorf. Valley City State visits Dickinson State. Mayville
State won’t open their North Star conference play until Sept. 21 at VCSU.
The top six teams will qualify for the North Star conference postseason tournament, which will be extended to a
three-day tournament instead of two-day tournament. The quarterfinals begin on Nov. 9, with the semifinals
being played on Friday evening, Nov. 10. The championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.
The NSAA postseason tournament is slated 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 on Nov. 18 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. The pool play begins on Nov. 29 and continues through Dec. 1 (each team in each pool will play two
matches with a ‘rest’ day). The single elimination bracket play opens on Dec. 2, with semifinals set for Dec. 4
and the championship match on Dec. 5.
Below is the complete list of the 2023 NSAA Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll below:
2023 NSAA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Poll
Rank School (First-Place Votes in parenthesis) Points
1 Viterbo (Wis.) (6) 48
2 Bellevue (Neb.) (1) 43
3 Mayville State (N.D.) 31
4 Dakota State (S.D.) 29
5 Valley City State (N.D.) 21
T6 Dickinson State (N.D.) 12
T6 Waldorf (Iowa) 12