ST. PAUL, Minn. - With the 2025 volleyball season just two days away, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference released its Preseason Coaches Poll and Preview on Wednesday morning. To the surprise of few, the University of Northwestern was picked to win the conference, receiving 35 points and five of six possible first-place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team).

The full UMAC Preview can be found here.

The Eagles enter 2025 having won 14-consecutive regular season UMAC titles and a total of 18 in 21 years under head coach Beth Wilmeth. While Northwestern loses a strong 2024 senior class that included All-Americans Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) and Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford), it returns loads of experience from last year's NCAA Tournament team, led by 2023 AVCA Third Team All-American Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy). Aune is the NCAA Division III active leader in career blocks with 394. Her 1.32 blocks per set as a junior led the UMAC and were seventh in all of NCAA DIII. The middle blocker was also second in the conference in hitting percentage (.360). Joining Aune in the middle is sophomore Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian), who burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2024 and won UMAC Rookie of the Year. Wyatt was second in the conference to her teammate in both blocks (103) and blocks per set (0.98), and finished seventh in hitting percentage (.290).

Other returners who played in at least 80% of last year's matches include Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids), Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland), Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph), Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove), Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) and Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North), making for an experienced squad. Northwestern will open its season Friday night at 7:00 PM inside the Ericksen Center against Bethel as part of the Kathryne Pals Legacay Invitational.
 

Place	School	Points
1	Northwestern (5)	35
2	UW-Superior (2)	32
3	Minnesota Morris	26
4	Bethany Lutheran	18
5	Martin Luther	14
6	North Central	11
6	Crown	11