PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second season in a row Central Washington is the preseason favorite for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown, topping one of the tightest coaches polls the conference has ever seen.
The Wildcats garnered 91 points including a pair of first-place votes, edging reigning GNAC champion Seattle Pacific by a single point. The Falcons claimed the majority of first-place votes with six, and will look to defend their first GNAC title since 2011.
Western Washington was a distant third in the preseason poll with 75 points, and Simon Fraser was close behind with 74 points including the other two first-place votes.
The 2024 GNAC volleyball season kicks off with exhibition matches this weekend, before Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks have the first counters of the year on Aug. 29-31. All 10 GNAC teams begin their regular seasons on Sept. 5, with the 18-match conference schedule beginning on Sept. 19. View the complete
2024 GNAC volleyball schedule online here.
2024 GNAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll
Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
Central Washington is coming off a 20-7 season in 2023, and went 14-4 in conference play to finish two games back of the Falcons as the GNAC runner-up. The Wildcats are favored in the preseason poll for the second straight season, albeit by a much narrower margin compared to last year’s unanimous selection. Part of that has to do with the loss of All-American utility player Tia Andaya, who broke the GNAC record for triple-doubles during her three-year tenure with her father’s team.
Mario Andaya, entering his 29th season in charge, has plenty of firepower returning to the lineup however, as he looks to deliver the Wildcats’ third GNAC title and first since back-to-back crowns in 2004-05.
Headlining the list is All-American middle blocker
Emma Daoud-Hebert and all-conference libero
Hannah Stires. Daoud-Hebert ranked second nationally in blocks per set a season ago, averaging 1.41 to lead the Wildcat defense. She also chipped in 1.87 kills per set, helping CWU lead the GNAC in hitting percentage (.247) and blocks per set (2.71). Stires is another one of the conference’s premier defensive players, ranking second in the league with 4.93 digs per set last fall.
CWU's Emma Daoud-Hebert ranked second in Division II volleyball with 1.41 blocks per set in 2023.
The Wildcats’ non-conference schedule is stacked, with six of its seven scheduled opponents having appeared in last year’s NCAA Regional Championships. Headlining the slate will be a can’t-miss Sept. 14 match at home against reigning NCAA Division II national champion Cal State LA, which will be the Wildcats’ final tune-up before diving into conference play. CWU will have its sights set on a 12th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA West Region Championships this fall.
Seattle Pacific went 22-5 last season and ripped through its conference schedule with a record of 16-2 to claim the 2023 GNAC title. The Falcons won 21 of their final 24 matches losing only to Western Washington (twice) and eventual national champion Cal State LA in the opening round of the regional tournament.
Jason Rhine came through in a big way in his second season leading the Falcons, and has the bulk of his roster returning this fall.
Jason Rhine led Seattle Pacific to its first GNAC volleyball title since 2011 last season.
Hannah Hair.
Reigning GNAC Player of the Year
Hannah Hair is back for her fifth season, after being named an AVCA All-American and leading Division II in blocks per set with 1.63. Perhaps the most experienced team in the conference, SPU returns fifth-year senior middle
Allison Wilks, fifth-year senior outside hitter
Sarah Brachvogel, fifth-year senior opposite side
Erin Smith, and senior setter
Emily Tulino who all started the majority of last year’s matches. The Falcons ranked second nationally in blocks per set with 2.71 and ranked second in the conference in both hitting percentage (.226) and opponents hitting percentage (.155). Like the Wildcats, the Falcons have a stacked non-conference schedule including a Sept. 6 date with the reigning national champions Cal State LA and a spot in the prestigious Colorado Premier Challenging running Sept. 13-14 in Denver.
As it is year-in and year-out, Western Washington once again figures to contend for the GNAC title after finishing third in the conference standings with a 2023 league record of 12-6. After an 0-8 start to the season – playing seven nationally-ranked opponents – the youthful Vikings finished the year strong to climb towards the top of the GNAC standings.
Diane Flick-Williams begins her 25th season piloting the program in 2024, with top returners in junior pin
Devyn Oestreich, junior setter
Adele Holland and sophomore middle blocker
Emily Vossenkuhl back on the roster. The Vikings will once again face test after test in the early portion of their schedule, with five of their six non-conference matches coming against 2023 NCAA tournament teams. After hosting a competitive tournament to kick off the season, the Vikings will take on Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona in three games at Central Washington.
Devyn Oestreich is back for her third season in a Viking uniform.
The GNAC coaches were complimentary of
Gina Schmidt’s Simon Fraser squad, as the 13th-year head coach prepares to lead a unit that placed fourth in 2023 with a
Gina Schmidt.
conference record of 11-7. SFU went 16-10 overall last season, and is another GNAC team to return a swath of talent. First-team all-conference opposite hitter
Brooke Dexter figures to be one of the league’s top players again, after averaging 2.67 kills per set. Fellow senior
Jocelyn Sherman is back on the outside for the Red Leafs, after leading the team and ranking fifth in the league with 3.12 kills per set. Junior setter
Eva Person and sophomore libero
Macyn Unger are other SFU returners who saw regular action a season ago. SFU opens its slate at the San Diego Invite Sept. 5-7, and will also compete in the CWU tournament from Sept. 12-14 including a match against the reigning national champions to open that event.
Alaska Anchorage will have its sights set on bumping its record back over .500, after finishing sixth in the GNAC at 16-17 overall and 8-10 in conference play. Senior pin
Bethany Tuchardt, senior middle blocker
Leilani Elder and junior libero
Madison Galloway were the most impactful Seawolves from 2023 who are back on the roster. UAA will also have the services of outside hitter
Tia Allen this fall, after she put up a stellar freshman season at Saint Martin’s in the fall of 2022. Stacie Meisner begins her second full season in charge of the Seawolves, who were picked fifth in the preseason poll with 59 points. UAA kicks off its season on the Big Island, facing Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo on Aug. 29-30. The Seawolves will then venture to Sioux Falls, S.D., and Fairbanks, Alaska over the following two weeks, and will kick off their conference schedule with 10 matches under their belts.
Checking in right behind UAA in the preseason poll was Alaska Fairbanks, which garnered 49 points. The Nanooks tied for seventh with a league record of 7-11 in 2023, and went 14-18 overall.
Brian Scott begins his 10th season in charge of the Nanooks, who will also open their season in Hawaii and are scheduled for 10 non-conference matches over the first three weeks of the season. The headline returner for Alaska is senior outside hitter
Karli Nielson, who ranked seventh in the GNAC with 2.93 kills per set in 2023.
2024 Alaska Nanooks Volleyball.
Doug English.
Northwest Nazarene received 38 points in the preseason poll and is projected for a seventh-place finish, after tying for seventh in last year’s standings with a league record of 7-11.
Doug English begins his 12th season in charge of the program, and returns a trio of seniors in setter
Gabi Moore, right side hitter
Miya Koch and outside hitter
Maren (Dent) Machado. The Nighthawks open their schedule in California at the Concordia Irvine Golden Eagle Classic, before hosting an eight-team tournament in Nampa on Sept. 12-14.
Kaiao Nahale-a will look to continue the improving win total trend in his third season at Western Oregon, as the Wolves reached double figures (10-16, 4-14 GNAC) in 2023. WOU picked up 33 points in the preseason poll and was slated to finish eighth, one spot higher than last year’s ninth-place spot in the standings. Seniors
Madison Hornback and
Bailee Hartsook and junior
Chloe Asciutto are WOU’s top returning players, with Hornback leading the GNAC at 3.56 kills per set in 2023. The Wolves begin their season in Hawaii Sept. 5-7, before playing in the Cougar Classic Sept. 13-14 in San Marcos, Calif.
A new era awaits Saint Martin’s as
Wade Taylor was
officially introduced as the head coach of the program last spring. The Saints are coming off a fifth-place finish in the GNAC with a league mark of 10-8 in 2023, and set the program record for win total with a 17-11 record overall. SMU received 29 points in the preseason poll and was picked to finish ninth.
Emily Garten, who ranked second in the GNAC with 3.39 kills per set last season, is the team’s top returner offensively. Senior libero
Abigail Halstead and senior middle blocker
Jennifer Soha are the Saints’ most experienced returners. The Saints open their season in Hilo, Hawaii Sept. 5-7 and then will head to Nampa to compete in the NNU tournament Sept. 12-14.
Montana State Billings was selected 10th in the preseason coaches poll with 12 points, after going 3-25 overall and 1-17 in conference play last season.
Casey Williams is in her ninth season leading the Yellowjackets, who return senior libero
Christine Funk and sophomores
Julia Gordon and
Bailey Nichols who were difference makers last season. Funk led the conference with 5.16 digs per set. MSUB hosts a three-team affair on Sept. 6-7 and will play at the Black Hills State Classic on Sept. 12-14 in Spearfish, S.D.
COACHING MILESTONES: Entering the 2024 season, several GNAC coaches are approaching landmark win milestones. Flick-Williams, the conference’s all-time winningest coach, begins the campaign four wins shy of 500 in the GNAC era (overall she is 518-137 - .791 – including the 2000 campaign prior to the formation of the conference). Andaya, the other coach to have been involved since the conference was founded in 2001, is 10 wins shy of 400 victories in the GNAC era (since 2001). Overall since taking the helm at CWU in 1996 Andaya holds a record of 452-300 (.601). SFU’s Schmidt and NNU’s English, who both began coaching in the conference in 2013, have since led their teams to 157-11 (.586) and 166-119 (.582) records, respectively. Alaska’s Brian Scott is sure to reach the century mark in victories since his debut GNAC season in 2015, as he enters the campaign having led the Nanooks to 98 wins.
POSTSEASON TALK: The 2024 GNAC regular-season champion earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which are scheduled for Dec. 5-8.