Carroll College’s Elizabeth Heuiser Receives Frontier Conference Grit Award for Volleyball

Carroll College volleyball standout Elizabeth (Liz) Heuiser received the Frontier Conference Grit Award for Volleyball, sponsored by the Montana Army National Guard. The nomination recognizes Heuiser’s perseverance through significant medical challenges while maintaining high levels of athletic performance and academic achievement.

According to nomination documents, Heuiser is an All-American volleyball player who competed for Carroll College while majoring in nursing and maintaining a 3.9 GPA. A Helena, Montana, native, she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Nursing while earning Dean’s List and other academic honors. Her nominators highlight not only her on-court success, including multiple 2nd Team All-Frontier Conference selections, but also her resilience and leadership within the program.

Heuiser’s medical journey, beginning in 2024 when she developed joint pain, swelling and skin rashes that ultimately led to a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis and, in April 2024, psoriatic arthritis. She redshirted a season for medical reasons, working with medical staff and physical therapy, trying medications and dietary changes, and gradually rebuilding her strength. After rehabilitating, she returned to competition in fall 2024 and earned 2nd Team All-Frontier Conference honors.

Her redshirt senior season brought additional adversity. In early October 2025, Heuiser underwent an emergency appendectomy and missed approximately three weeks of competition. She returned to the lineup before the season ended, again earning 2nd Team All-Frontier Conference honors and being voted team Most Valuable Player by her teammates. Support letters from head coach Maureen “Moe” Boyle, physical therapist Andi Michalson, DPT, and nursing faculty and advisor Maria Brosnan emphasize her resilience, mental toughness, leadership and alignment with Montana Army National Guard values.