The Bellevue University volleyball team is picked to finish second in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) regular season in an announcement made today by the conference office. Viterbo is the coaches' pick to win the 2021 NSAA volleyball title. It is the seventh-straight year that the V-Hawks are picked to win the league title.

The Bruins tallied 57 points and one first-place vote in the poll after ending the 2020 season with a No. 18 final national ranking. The Bruins return 12 letterwinners and five starters from last season's squad that won the North Star Athletic Association regular-season title for the first time in school history, advancing to the NAIA National Tournament for the 13th time.

Leading the way for BU will be junior first-team All-American setter Olivia Galas, the NSAA's reigning co-Player of the Year as well as the NAIA's National Setter of the Year. Third-team All-American outside hitter Eve Fountain returns after being named the NSAA and North Central Region Freshman of the Year. Other top returners include junior outside hitter Sierra Athen (all-NSAA, all-Region, 2019 second-team All-American) and freshman rightside hitter Jacki Apel (second team all-NSAA). 

Viterbo collected seven first-place votes and tallied 63 points to secure the top spot in the conference preseason poll.  

The league went through a split conference schedule last season, playing in the fall and spring seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bruins, who finished 17-7 overall record last season, won their first-ever league conference regular-season title last season with a 12-2 conference record. 

The V-Hawks stormed back to defeat the Bruins in the league postseason tournament, claiming their sixth-straight North Star Athletic Association postseason tournament title in a five-set thriller in Bellevue.  Both teams won their NAIA Volleyball National Tournament's opening round before falling in a pair of pool play matches at the final site of the national tournament.

Dakota State (S.D.) edged Mayville State (N.D.) by three points (45-42) to finish third in the poll. The Comets finished second in last year's league standings and punched their ticket to their first-ever NAIA National Tournament's Opening Round before falling to eventual national runner-up Midland (Neb.). 

Viterbo (14-9 overall record in 2020-21) finished No. 16 in the final NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll last season.  Bellevue was ranked No. 18 in the poll, while Mayville State (23-11) received votes.

Dickinson State (N.D.) placed fifth in the conference preseason poll with 26 points followed by Valley City State (N.D.) sixth with 23 points.  Presentation (S.D.) is seventh with 18 points and Waldorf (Iowa) is eighth with 14 points.

All NSAA members will be playing a 14-match double round-robin schedule (7 matches at home and 7 matches on the road, except for Bellevue hosting Dickinson State twice this fall). 

The conference season officially kicks off Tuesday, Sept. 14 with Presentation traveling to Mayville State and Bellevue hosting Dakota State. The rest of the NSAA's opening-season matches are on Wednesday, Sept. 16 with VCSU at DiSU and WU at VU.

The top six teams will qualify for the North Star Athletic Association Tournament on Nov. 12-13.  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 Volleyball National Tournament, which is scheduled to open on Nov. 20 at campus sites.

The national tournament's opening round winners will move on to the final site at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.  The final site of the national tournament opens with the pool play action on the first two days on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, followed by single-elimination bracket play starting on Dec. 2.  The championship match is scheduled for Dec. 4.

Below is the complete list of the 2021 NSAA Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll: