VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The Valley City State volleyball team was selected to finish sixth in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the conference office announced Monday.

The Vikings finished the 2020 season with a 3-11 conference record and a seventh-place finish in the NSAA. All NSAA members will play a 14-match schedule with the Vikings opening conference play at Dickinson State on Sept. 16.

Viterbo (Wis.) is the league’s head coaches favorite to win the 2021 North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) title.  It is the seventh consecutive year that the V-Hawks are predicted to win the conference title.

Viterbo collected seven first-place votes and tallied 63 points to secure the top spot in the conference preseason poll.  Bellevue (Neb.) picked up the final first-place vote and tallied 57 points to finish second.

The league went through a split conference schedule last season, playing in the fall and spring seasons due to 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.

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 overall record last season) 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.

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. 15 with VCSU at DiSU and WU at VU.

The top six teams will qualify for the North Star conference postseason 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 for Nov. 20 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 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: