Carroll rises to No. 2 in NAIA

The race to the Frontier Conference championship, and berths in the NAIA playoffs is starting to wind down. And there was more movement by Frontier teams in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll.

After surviving a scare against Montana Tech last Saturday, Carroll College has now won six straight games, and the Fighting Saints moved up one spot in the new poll. Carroll is now ranked No. 2 behind unbeaten Morningside.

Southern Oregon suffered its first loss two weeks ago at Carroll, but after blowing out College of Idaho last Saturday, the Raiders moved back up two spots this week. SOU rose from No. 5 to No. 7.

After dropping out of the poll following two straight losses, Eastern Oregon is back in at No. 23 this week, while Rocky Mountain College lost its third game in four weeks, and as a result the Battlin’ Bears dipped to No. 21 in the latest poll.

And with a big win over Rocky Mountain College last Saturday, the UM-Western Bulldogs are back in the NAIA Poll. The Bulldogs received votes in this week's poll, after improving to 4-4 in the Frontier Conference and 4-5 overall.

SOU quarterback Austin Dodge was named Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Dodge was also named the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week. In then No. 7 Southern Oregon’s 66-16 win over College of Idaho, Dodge was 23 of 29 passing for 443 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. It was his 15th four-touchdown pass game of his career. Teammate, and SOU linebacker Laurence Calcagno was named Defensive Player of the Week. Calcagno recorded five solo tackles and seven assisted tackles. He had three tackles for loss(-5). Calcagno also forced and recovered a fumble.

Eastern Oregon kicker Marc David was named Special Team’s Player of the Week. In Eastern Oregon’s 70-21 win over Montana State-Northern, David was 10 for 10 in PATs.

Westminster’s Alexis Aalona was named Frontier Volleyball Player of the Week for the second straight week. She averaged 4.60 kills and 4.80 digs in the match with a .389 hitting percentage. Aalona had 23 kills and 24 digs to extend her streak of double-doubles to eight matches. MSU-N’s Erin Jensen was also nominated.