Four Minnesota volleyball recruits are headed to Montana State. A Minnesota connection is a big reason why they’re going.

Minnesota is a hotbed for high school volleyball talent, and every year, athletes are recruited to play at some of the country’s most successful college programs, including the Gophers.

This year, a college program with a faint reputation within the state’s strong volleyball scene — though led by a recognizable coach — has entered the sweepstakes for Minnesota talent. So far, the school has won four prizes: Prior Lake’s Elli Tufto, Northfield’s Teagan Jaynes, Sauk Rapids-Rice’s Lauren Schloe and Cambridge-Isanti’s Alice Steman.

This volleyball season, all four committed to play for Montana State. And when they arrive in Bozeman, another Minnesota connection awaits: former Gophers coaches and married couple Matt and Jen Houk.

Matt Houk is in his second season as head coach for Montana State, which lost in the Big Sky Conference championship last year. His wife, Jen, is the associate head coach. When it came time to recruit their first players outside of Montana’s small pool, the pair looked to Minnesota, where they had coached since joining the Gophers staff in 2014. They left Minnesota in 2022.

“[In Minnesota] these athletes come up, and they’re playing really high-level volleyball matches from a really young age,” Matt Houk said. “You can go to Lakeville North vs. Prior Lake, and it’s a great volleyball match. There’s probably eight kids on the court that are going to be college athletes, and so I think that’s unique.”

Matt once coached 9-year-old Jaynes for one club season.

“We spent 10 years making strong connections with club coaches and high school coaches and recruiters in the area,” Houk said. “So when we’re picking up and calling about an athlete there, we’re talking to someone that we know well. We can trust their opinion on that athlete.”

That doesn’t explain why Steman, Tufto, Schloe and Jaynes considered Montana State, a program that rarely drew players from Minnesota.

Steman, a middle blocker, cut her own highlights and emailed coaches across the country, pitching them on her powerful vertical measurements and strong agility. The Houks were her first response, the first day that NCAA rules allowed programs to communicate with high school players.

Schloe, another middle blocker, caught college coaches’ eyes at national club tournaments with Kandi Elite. Jaynes leaned on Minnesota Select’s recruiting coordinators to connect with colleges. Like Steman, Montana State was her first conversation.

The Bobcats were also the first email in Tufto’s inbox.

Those early conversations set the Houks apart.

“I was talking to other schools, too, but in the back of my mind [was] the first phone call with them,” Tufto said. “They were so welcoming.”

The four got to experience the Houks’ hospitality when they attended camps together at Montana State. After being dazzled by the natural beauty of Bozeman and drawn to the well-sourced, but not overwhelming, size of the school, the four verbally committed, one by one.

Jaynes’ older sister, Sydney, plays volleyball at the University of Tennessee. She picked a place where she could excel off the court. Teagan wanted a similar experience.

“[I wanted to] find a place that felt comfortable outside of the volleyball world,” she said.

The last night of her official visit, Tufto was in the back seat of a car with her parents when she looked up and told them, “This feels like home.” When she got out of the car, and the staff thanked her for visiting, she told the team they hadn’t seen the last of her.

“I love the way that Montana would run its practice — it was really hard,” Steman said. “Everyone was working, and there was a lot of checkups, [but] there was a lot of goofing off. And the coaches were a part of it. They weren’t just some authority figure. They were more like part of the team.”

Tufto and Jaynes plan to graduate early in December and join the Bobcats in the spring. Steman and Schloe will arrive in Bozeman next fall. Four-sixths of the Bobcats’ freshman recruiting class, they’ll look to impact a Montana State team that finished 24-9 in 2023 while making the program’s first appearance in national postseason play by reaching the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

This year, the Bobcats are 8-16.

Over the years, Tufto, Jaynes, Schloe and Steman had already competed alongside or against one another, becoming familiar faces and handy phone numbers. The dorm application process was the most recent topic of their texts and Snapchat messages.

“It’s really comforting just knowing, though we’re going so far away, that our families know each other and I’ve gotten to know them better,” Tufto said. “Just the thought of being able to come home with somebody, flying back to Minnesota, or driving back together, that’s comforting.”