GREAT FALLS — Providence women’s volleyball is back to their winning ways after having one bad season. After going 10-20 last year and finishing fifth place in the Frontier Conference, the Argos have reloaded their roster with four transfers and six freshmen. The new additions have gelled in with the team almost instantly, building amazing team chemistry that has got them off to a hot start at 6-1.
“It’s not a surprising start for us because we knew we had some really great pieces coming in. Certainly after the struggles we had last season, it was really important for us to go back and start early in the process,” said 20-year head coach Arunas Duda. “We brought in kids from good programs that want to win, want to be successful, and have done that at their junior colleges or high schools. They are in ready to play, ready to play hard, and ready to compete which has been awesome.”
“I think a lot of it is our team chemistry. Our whole team really enjoys playing with each other and it’s a lot more of a fun atmosphere,” said junior Mady Hoerner. “A lot of our new girls are really fun to be around and they bring a lot of good energy in practice and when we compete also.”
The Argos were picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference in the preseason coaches poll, with zero first place votes. Duda is less worried about the polls due to his beliefs that they are majorly based on the results of the previous year, but the team took the polls seriously and have used it to fuel their fire.
“I think it just masked us even more competitive because we just want to show everybody and stick it to them…We have to prove them wrong,” said freshman Cabry Taylor.
Providence will head to Iowa for the CSM Labor Day classic before heading to Dillon for the Frontier Conference preseason tournament.