KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the second consecutive season, Eastern Oregon Volleyball will start the year ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Rankings. The Mounties trail only Indiana Wesleyan and Northwestern, the two teams that competed in last season's national championship.

EOU is coming off one of the strongest seasons in program history, finishing with a 34-2 overall record and 21-1 in conference play. The Mountaineers advanced all the way to the NAIA Semifinals before ultimately falling to 2023 National Champions Indiana Wesleyan University.

The rating methodology involves a panel of head coaches from each conference or the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents). Teams are ranked in the Top 25 based on a points system where a team earns 30 points for a first-place vote, 29 for second, 28 for third, and so on. The highest and lowest ratings for each team are discarded, and an extra point is added to each team's score for every ballot they appear on, including those with discounted ratings. Teams receiving only one point on a ballot are not considered as having "received votes."

Joining the Mounties from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, Southern Oregon (10) and Corban (12) each made it into the rankings, with College of Idaho receiving votes.

Eastern Oregon will have the opportunity to prove their ranking this weekend, matching up with No. 5 Viterbo in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. The Mounties will also go head-to-head with No. 21 and reigning Frontier Conference Champions Montana Western on Saturday.