Frontier championship field set as Saints earn sixth seed

HELENA, Mont. - The eight-team field for the 2026 Frontier Conference women's volleyball postseason tournament is set. The single-elimination tournament will take place Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 12-14, at the CC PE Center.

For the second straight season, the Frontier Conference championship will be decided in the Capital City, as the Fighting Saints (19-10, 14-8) look to capture their first tournament title since they swept both the regular season and conference championship back in 2016.

Although the Saints finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the final standings, Carroll will play as the sixth seed in next weekend's championship. Carroll, Providence, and Montana Western each posted matching 14-8 conference records. The Argos owned the tiebreaker amongst the teams, going 3-1 within the group to earn the No. 4 seed. UMW will be the No. 5 seed after going 2-2 within the group, while Carroll is No. 6 after going 1-3 against the pair.

Quarterfinal-round play will take place all afternoon on Thursday, with the sixth-seeded Saints drawing a matchup with No. 3 seed Dakota State, with the pair playing the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. following a trio of matches beforehand.

The quarterfinal round kicks off with top-seeded Bellevue against (8) Dickinson State at 12 p.m. (MDT), followed by (4) Providence against (5) Montana Western at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon session. (2) Montana Tech faces (7) Bismarck State at 5 p.m., leading up to the Carroll-Dakota State finale.

The four quarterfinal winners will advance to Friday's semifinals, with the championship match scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14.

Bellevue has already secured the Frontier Conference's first automatic berth to the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship by winning the regular-season title. The winner of the postseason tournament will earn the second automatic bid to the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Tournament Opening Round on Nov. 21. In the event that Bellevue reaches the championship match, the winner of the second semifinal match will earn the league's second automatic bid to the national tournament.

All seven tournament matches are scheduled to be broadcast live throughout Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, and all of Montana on SWX affiliates, as well as online on the SWX YouTube Channel.

2026 Frontier Conference women's volleyball tournament pairings

Carroll College P.E. Center • Helena, Mont.

Thursday, Nov. 12 – quarterfinals

• Match 1: (8) Dickinson State (N.D.) vs. (1) Bellevue (Neb.) – 12 p.m.
• Match 2: (5) Montana Western vs. (4) Providence (Mont.) – 2:30 p.m.
• Match 3: (7) Bismarck State (N.D.) vs. (2) Montana Tech – 5 p.m.
• Match 4: (6) Carroll (Mont.) vs. (3) Dakota State (S.D.) – 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 13 – semifinals

• Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner – 5 p.m.
• Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 14 – championship match

• Match 7: Friday's semifinal winners – 7 p.m.

For additional information, visit the 2026 Frontier Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament Central.