Three Frontier teams still ranked in NAIA Poll

With just one week left in the Frontier Conference football season, the league title is still up for grabs. While three teams from the Frontier remain nationally ranked.

After beating Rocky Mountain College at home last Saturday, the Carroll College Fighting Saints remain No. 2 in the most recent NAIA Coaches Poll. The Saints are tied with Southern Oregon for the top spot in the Frontier with one game to play.

The Raiders moved up one spot to No. 4 this week and will go into their season finale against rival Eastern Oregon with a chance to at least share the Frontier crown for the second time in three seasons. The game, Saturday in Ashland, Oregon, will be a showdown of ranked teams, as EOU moved up five spots to No. 16 in this week's poll. The UM-Western Bulldogs, which finished their season with a 60-15 win last Saturday at MSU-Northern, also received votes in this week's poll.

Eastern Oregon's Jace Billingsley was named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. In then No. 21 Eastern Oregon's 45-21 victory over College of Idaho, Billingsley had 294 yards in all-purpose yardage. He caught nine passes for 156 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Billingsley was also named the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week.

Montana Tech linebacker David Meis was named Defensive Player of the Week. In Montana Tech's 33-45 loss to then No. 5 Southern Oregon, Meis recorded 12 unassisted tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss (-13 yards), one quarterback sack and five assisted tackles. Carroll College punter Rhys Felton also earned Special Team's Player of the Week.

The Frontier volleyball regular season is in the books and Rocky Mountain College's Aleah Billis, a 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter from Bozeman was named Volleyball Player of the Week. Rocky won at Carroll College 3-0 in their final regular season match. She averaged 6.67 kills and 3.33 digs per set in the win over Carroll with a .410 hitting percentage. Billis added two service aces and a block. MSU-N's Sarah Stringfellow was nominated for the award.

Lewis-Clark State's Erick Diouf was also named Men's Basketball Player of the Week, while Westminster's Tia Pappas as named Women's Player of the Week. Northern's A'Jha Edwards and Corbin Pearson were also nominated.