The Wayne State College volleyball team is picked second in the 2026 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Wednesday morning by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota.  Junior middle hitter Chloe Hanel was listed as Wayne State's Player to Watch in the NSIC this season.
            Wayne State received 207 points and three first-place ballots in voting conducted by league coaches.  The Wildcats finished the 2025 season 27-5 overall and tied for first in the NSIC with a 19-1 league mark to earn a third NSIC regular season title in the last four years.
            Defending co-NSIC regular season champion Concordia-St. Paul was selected as the team to beat this season collecting 11 first-place votes and 220 points with Wayne State second at 207 points.  St. Cloud State was third at 199 points and the remaining two first-place votes with Southwest Minnesota State (177) and Sioux Falls (158) filling out the top five teams.   
            Minnesota State was sixth at 156 points followed by Minnesota Duluth (143), Northern State at 140 and Augustana and Winona State tied for ninth garnering 104 points.
            Hanel, a 6-0 junior middle hitter from Clarkson (Clarkson-Leigh HS), was named All-NSIC First Team, AVCA All-Central Region First Team and AVCA All-American Third Team last season after a stellar sophomore season where she averaged 2.87 kills and 1.00 blocks per set.  She tied for first in the NSIC with 33 solo blocks and ranked fifth in the league with a .361 hitting percentage while tied for sixth in blocks per set.  Hanel tied a single match school record with 13 blocks to go with 18 kills in a 3-2 win over #10 St. Cloud State October 11^th and had a career-high 24 kills vs. #16 Minnesota Duluth September 26th. 
            Wayne State opens the 2026 season on Friday, August 28^th in Garden City, New York facing a pair of NCAA Division II Tournament teams from last season, battling the University of Tampa at 11:30 a.m. and Adelphi (NY) in a 2 p.m. contest. 
 
2026 Preseason NSIC Volleyball Coaches Poll
1.         Concordia-St. Paul (11)             220 pts.
2.         Wayne State (3)                        207 pts.
3.         St. Cloud State (2)                     199 pts.
4.         Southwest Minnesota State        177 pts.
5.         Sioux Falls                                158 pts.
6.         Minnesota State                        156 pts.
7.         Minnesota Duluth                      143 pts.
8.         Northern State                          140 pts.
9.         Augustana                                104 pts.
9.         Winona State                            104 pts.
11.        MSU Moorhead                         86 pts.
12.        Jamestown                               78 pts.
13.        Bemidji State                             59 pts.
14.        University of Mary                     40 pts.
15.        Minnesota Crookston                25 pts.
16.        Minot State                               24 pts.
                        first place votes in ( )