GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence volleyball team remained in the Top 10 in the latest national rankings released by the NAIA on Wednesday. The Argos (9-2) stayed at the #10 spot, their highest ranking in program history.

"We're definitely excited," head coach Arunas Duda said. "You look above us and right below us, there's some really good teams in there. We're very pleased with where we are."

The squad is coming off a road trip in Arizona, where the team went 2-1 this past weekend. The Argos lost their first match to #11 Bellevue, before defeating #20 Ottawa University Arizona and Embry-Riddle, who is receiving votes in the National Poll.

"Last weekend was a tough weekend," Duda said. "We played some really good teams. It was the second weekend flying in a row and you could tell we were a little road weary. We found a way to win two of those three, which was huge for us."

Over half the teams the Argos have played this season are represented in the National Poll. The Argos are 5-1 against those teams, defeating #14 Eastern Oregon, #19 Concordia, #20 Ottawa, #24 Grandview and (RV) Embry-Riddle. The team's lone ranked loss came to #11 Bellevue.

"The schedule was intentionally difficult," Duda said. "We wanted to go and challenge ourselves over and over again. We do have a lot of returners from last year, including our three All-Americans, but we do have a lot of new kids and some freshman that have played key roles for us. For them to go on the road and get that experience early on will only pay dividends through conference and then hopefully through the postseason as well."

The team will now shift their focus to conference foes as they prepare for the Frontier Conference Preseason Tournament in Havre, Mont. this weekend. Though they'll play all Frontier Conference teams, all games will count as non-conference games. The Argos will play four games in the tournament, starting with a game against Carroll College, who is receiving votes in the poll, at 11:00 a.m. Friday morning.

"All the training that we've done in the preseason, all the experience that we got from all these matches, it's time to put that into use," Duda said. "We need to act like we're one of the Top 10 teams in the country. Hopefully we can show up with a little bit of swagger, a little bit more experience, a little bit more grit and continue to pull out some of these matches."