From Montana Tech Sports Information
The 2024 Big Sky Volleyball Challenge returns to the Mining City from Thursday, August 15th to Saturday, August 17th.
Now in its ninth year, the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge will feature 25 games played between the Butte Civic Center and the HPER Complex on the Montana Tech campus.
As in previous years, the tournament is packed with talent from across the country. Of the 13 participating teams, five come from the Frontier Conference, Montana Tech, MSU-Northern, Rocky Mountain College, Carroll College and the University of Providence.
Northwestern (Iowa) will compete in the Big Sky Challenge this year. The Red Raiders were ranked No. 1 in the country for most of 2023 and played for the national championship. They will be at or near the top of the preseason poll when it is released. The Red Raiders have been in the top 25 in the last 42 polls since 2017.
Another program that has been in the top 25 for a long time is Montana Tech, with 21 consecutive polls dating back to 2021. The Orediggers will be looking to secure a spot in the preseason top 25 poll.
The rest of the field for this year’s Challenge includes Dakota Wesleyan, who made the National Tournament in 2022. The Bushnell Beacons come from the Cascade Conference, where they finished 16-12 a year ago. Embry Riddle travels from Arizona. The Eagles are coming off a strong 2023 season, finishing 16-4 in the GSAC and 21-10 overall. Also from the GSAC is Life Pacific from San Dimas, California. One team from the strong GSAC is with us, namely Doane University from Nebraska. They will look to improve on their 8-19 record a year ago. Doane will be Montana Tech’s first opponent of the 2024 season, playing at 1 p.m. Thursday at the HPER Complex.
Our Lady of the Lake and Loyola University New Orleans will each make the long trip to Butte to play four games.
The tournament page with the schedule and participant lists can be found on the Montana Tech athletics website.
All games will be streamed on BallerTV.com.