KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Eastern Oregon has risen to the top of the first regular-season 2023 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Rankings. The Mounties reached the top spot four times last season. Following a dominant run at the Magic Island Hawaii Classic, the Mounties are 7-0 and have beaten three Top 25 ranked teams through two weeks of play. EOU received 16 first-place votes in the recent ranking, with Concordia (Neb.) following with 3 first place votes.
The team has seen returners and new faces step up to contribute in huge ways already this season. Returner Alexis McMurtrey won the inaugural CCC Setter of the Week honor and true freshman Mylie Mills was recently recognized as CCC Defender of the Week and NAIA National Defender of the Week.
“While it is great to be rewarded for our success this pre-season, we know that the work is only starting,” said head coach Kaki Mclean Morehead. “The team and I know that it takes an incredible amount of dedication to consistently be great and to have the goal of getting better every day. To us, being number 1 means going back to work; putting work in to improve ourselves and our team one percent every day.”
The Mounties will have the opportunity to get back to work and validate their ranking on September 1st at 7:00 p.m. when they face the Oregon Tech Owls in the first conference game of the season.