2024 NAIA Volleyball Preseason Top 25 Poll
SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Volleyball program will begin the 2024 season where it finished the 2023 campaign – ranked No. 4 in the national poll. The Bulldogs landed in that spot in the 2024 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Rating released on Wednesday (Aug. 14) by the national office. The top three teams in the poll are No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 2 Northwestern and No. 3 Eastern Oregon.
This will mark the fifth year in a row that Head Coach Ben Boldt’s Bulldogs have started a season with a national ranking. In previous preseasons, Concordia landed at No. 10 in 2020, at No. 7 in 2021, at No. 11 in 2022 and at No. 4 in 2023. The Boldts’ teams went on to earn final rankings of No. 14 in 2019, No. 8, in 2020, No. 6 in 2021 and No. 4 in 2022 and 2023. Each of the previous five seasons have resulted in the Bulldogs reaching the final site of the NAIA National Championship tournament. Concordia spent the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons ranked inside the top 25 and rose to No. 1 in the middle of 2023 for its first NAIA top ranking in program history.
Other GPAC teams represented in the 2024 preseason poll are: No. 2 Northwestern, No. 6 Midland and No. 17 College of Saint Mary. In nonconference action this season, the Bulldogs will test themselves against No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan, No.5 Viterbo (Wis.), No. 7 Columbia and No. 14 Bellevue.
Concordia will officially open the 2024 season on Friday while hosting the Bulldog Bash inside Friedrich Arena. As part of Friday’s action, the Bulldogs will take on Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) at 6:30 p.m. CT.