BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intecollegiate Conference released the 2025 NSIC Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll on Monday morning and Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish second for the second consecutive season.
The Golden Bears received 208 points and four of the possible 16 first-place votes in the poll. Defending conference champion St. Cloud State was narrowly picked to repeat with 212 points and eight first-place votes. Southwest Minnesota State was picked third with 202 points and the remaining four first-place votes.
Looking ahead to this year's team, Head Coach
Brady Starkey said, "we return most of our serve receive and ball control from last season which will help the continuity of our offense. While we graduated a lot of strong players from last season, it's always exciting to see what players are going to step up and fill those roles. Fortunately, we have a lot of returning talent and some strong incoming players that will get a chance this year."
Senior libero
Cassie Sieling was picked as Concordia's player to watch entering the season. "Cassie had a strong season last year as our libero and we look for her to build on the success she had last season," said Starkey. "She is a strong serve receiver who really helps solidify our ball control with her ability to take a lot of court. Her defensive is very consistent and under control and she gives our team a chance to swing for a lot of points. Cassie is a tireless worker in practice every day and is a joy to coach."
The Golden Bears will open up the 2025 campaign with three matches at the UIndy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind. on September 5 and 6. CSP will open NSIC play on September 19 hosting conference newcomer Jamestown (N.D.) at 6 p.m.
The NSIC regular season champion will be determined by the 20-match conference schedule. The 2025 NSIC Volleyball Tournament shall be an eight-team tournament with the quarterfinals hosted at the top four seeds on Tuesday, November 18 and the semifinals/championship matches hosted at the highest remaining seed. The semifinals/championship matches will take place on two consecutive days between Friday and Sunday, November 21-23 with the dates of competition determined by the host institution.
