SALT LAKE CITY – The Frontier Conference released the annual women's volleyball preseason coaches' poll today and Westminster was selected to finish fifth in the 2010 season. The Griffins received 23 points in the poll of the eight head coaches in the conference.

Westminster returns six players and four starters from a team that went 9-20 and finished fifth in the Frontier with a 6-8 record in 2009. They also welcome in one of the top recruiting classes in the conference. Head coach Kim Norman sits just five wins shy of 100 career victories entering the 2010 season.

Frontier Conference regular season co-champion and conference tournament champion Lewis-Clark State College received six first place votes and is the preseason favorite of the league's volleyball coaches to win the conference title for the 2010 season.

Carroll College received two first place votes and was picked to finish second followed by Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College, Montana Tech, Montana State-Northern and Montana Western.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. First place was worth seven points, second place worth six points, third place worth five points, fourth place worth four points, fifth place worth three points, sixth place worth two points, and seventh place worth one point.

Westminster begins the 2010 campaign at the Tournament of Champions on August 27. The Griffins host the event at the Behnken Field House and open against Daemen College at 2 p.m. on the 27th. They will also face the College of Idaho and Azusa Pacific during the season opening event.

2010 Frontier Conference Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. Lewis-Clark State (6) -- 47 pts
2. Carroll College (2) -- 44 pts
3. Rocky Mountain -- 35 pts
4. University of Great Falls -- 34 pts
5. Westminster College -- 23 pts
6. Montana Tech -- 21 pts
7. MSU-Northern -- 12 pts
8. Montana Western -- 8 pts