INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 24 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball is picked to finish first for the upcoming season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll announced by the league office on Thursday morning. The annual poll was voted on by the league's 14 head coaches. Coaches were not eligible to vote for their own teams per league policy.
The Tritons, the defending GLVC champions, received 11 of the 14 first-place votes and 166 points overall to finish in front of Rockhurst who garnered two first-place votes and 153 total points. UIndy was slated to finish third with 145 points and got the final first-place vote. Quincy was tabbed to finish fourth followed by Maryville to round out the top five.
UMSL finished the 2025 season with a record of 26-5 including 13-0 in the GLVC and hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional for the second time in three seasons. 16
th-year head coach
Ryan Young returns two All-Americans in
Alayna Santel and
Skylar Weaver along with first-team All-GLVC performers Santel, Weaver and
Maggie Johnson.
Weaver, the GLVC's Defensive Player of the Year, led the conference and finished in Division II with 614 total digs. She also led the league in digs per set with 5.34 and ranked 16th in Division II. Weaver was a three-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week last season.
Santel ranked second in the conference in total kills (474) and kills per set (4.12) while ranking 11th and 16th respectively in both of those categories in Division II. She also ranked second in the conference in points per set with 4.90 and 13th in Division II.
The Tritons open their 2026 schedule on Friday (Aug. 28) at the Cedarville Invite in Cedarville, Ohio. They'll take on the host Yellow Jackets in their season opener starting at 11 a.m. (CDT) and then take on top ranked Concordia-St. Paul at 4 p.m. (CDT). UMSL's final game of the weekend is on Saturday at 10 a.m. (CDT) against No. 24 Gannon.
The following weekend, the Tritons travel to Tampa, Fla., for the Tampa Volleyball Classic. UMSL will play four matches against Oklahoma Baptist, Francis Marion (S.C.), Florida Southern and second ranked Tampa.
The Tritons home opener will be on Friday (Sept. 18) as they host Southwest Baptist at 6 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
The annual GLVC Tournament will be played Nov. 12-14 at Williamsville High School Fieldhouse in Williamsville, Ill.
2026 GLVC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
| Place |
School |
Points (first-place votes) |
| 1. |
Missouri – St. Louis |
166 (11) |
| 2. |
Rockhurst |
153 (2) |
| 3. |
Indianapolis |
145 (1) |
| 4. |
Quincy |
128 |
| 5. |
Maryville |
119 |
| 6. |
Lewis |
116 |
| 7. |
Truman State |
92 |
| 8. |
Drury |
88 |
| 9. |
Illinois Springfield |
71 |
| 10. |
Missouri S&T |
60 |
| 11. |
McKendree |
55 |
| 12. |
Southwest Baptist |
36 |
| 13. |
Upper Iowa |
31 |
| 14. |
William Jewell |
14 |
