St. Paul, MN - The 2025 MLC volleyball team was predicted to take fifth (14 points) in the UMAC Volleyball Preseason Poll announced by the conference on Thursday.

The poll is voted on by all the head coaches in the conference. Coaches cannot vote for their own team.

Northwestern was voted to finish first with 35 points (5 first-place votes) after the Eagles had taken home six consecutive UMAC tournament titles.

Emma Holzhueter heads into her fourth season as head coach of MLC volleyball, and her key returners include senior Lydia Feidt and juniors Ella Walz and Anna Kieselhorst.

Feidt led all returning players on the Knights in kills (204) and blocks (47) at the middle hitter/outside hitter position in 2024, while Walz paced MLC with 471 assists (4.91 assists per set) as a setter.

Kieselhorst comes back in her libero role after leading the Knights in digs (416, 4.04 per set) as a sophomore.

MLC opens its season up in a non-conference tournament at Ripon College this weekend with four matches in two days. The first pair of matches will be against the host school, Ripon, on Friday, August 31, at 3 p.m., and will play Emmaus University at 5 p.m.

Full UMAC Volleyball Preseason Poll Press Release

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