Captains: Maddi Cuchran, Allison Jacobs, Serena Nyambio

Record: 22-11, 11-9 Big Ten Conference (Ninth Place)

NCAA Tournament: Second Round

The University of Michigan volleyball team finished with its best record since 2018 in head coach Erin Virtue‘s third season at the helm of the Wolverines. Rounding out the season with 22 wins, this marked the 15th time in program history the team has won more than 20 games. U-M finished the season with an NCAA Tournament berth, the first time since 2021 and the first time under Virtue.

Team Highlights

• Michigan compiled a 22-11 overall record and an 11-9 Big Ten Conference mark to finish ninth in the league. The Wolverines were picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll and managed to take sets off five of the eight teams ahead of them, including two wins.

• Eleven of U-M’s 27 opponents earned NCAA Tournament berths, with nine coming from the Big Ten to match a conference record. The Wolverines finished 45th in the RPI, 57 places higher than 2024 and went 20-4 in quads 2-4.

• Michigan started the season 6-0 before dropping a five-set match to Virginia; then finished non-conference play with four consecutive wins to give the Wolverines a 10-1 non-conference record. U-M faced five ranked teams in the first eight games of conference play, but finished the Big Ten season 9-3 to earn an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2021.

• The Wolverines got a statement win, defeating then-No. 10-ranked Minnesota — which finished 14th in the RPI and 17th in the AVCA poll. After dropping the first set, U-M went on to dominate the next three sets winning 25-12, 25-14, 25-12 led by a 20-kill performance from Allison Jacobs. U-M finished the match hitting .383 and held Minnesota to a .093 hitting percentage with the help of nine blocks and 53 digs.

• Another highlight came via a five-set win against reigning national champion and No. 19-ranked Penn State. The Nittany Lions controlled the first set with the Wolverines always following close behind before eventually falling 25-21. After falling behind early 11-6 in the second set, U-M battled back to win 25-21. An overall close third set ended in a 28-26 Penn State victory. After a close fourth and fifth set, Michigan won the battle. Four Wolverines tallied double-digit kills, led by 18 each from Jacobs and Ella Demetrician, while Cymarah Gordon added 13 and Serena Nyambio recorded 10.

• Michigan earned its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2021, heading to the Pittsburgh regional where the Wolverines faced off against No.8-seeded Xavier in the first round. U-M won in straight sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-23) for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2019. The Maize and Blue was led by 19 kills from Jacobs and four aces from Maddi Cuchran. The Wolverines then faced off against No.1-seeded Pittsburgh, dropping the first two sets by just two points but fell in three sets.

• The Wolverines retained the state pride flag for the second year in a row. U-M and Michigan State split the series with each program sweeping at home, but U-M held the Spartans to one fewer point over the matches. In the Wolverine win, Cuchran recorded her 1,000th career dig.

• U-M swept Ohio State in both matches this season for the first time since 2019. In Columbus, Michigan hit .471 against the Buckeyes and held OSU to .067, including a -.036 hitting percentage in a 25-9 set-two win. Across the two matches, Jacobs totaled 27 kills and Demetrician added 24 kills, with both recording double-digit kills in both matches.

• Michigan hosted a record 12 games at Crisler Center during the 2025 season. They went 9-3 in those matches, with notable wins over Minnesota, Penn State, and rivals Ohio State and Michigan State, while hosting a record 12,707 fans in a match against Nebraska.

• The Nebraska match marked the first time in program history that Michigan sold out Crisler, and it was just the fourth women’s sports event sell out Crisler. The Wolverines had the highest average attendance in program history, with a 50 percent increase in average attendance compared to 2024. U-M finished the season ranking 17th in the NCAA in total attendance and was 21st in average attendance.

Individual Highlights

• Earning All-Big Ten first-team status and being one of nine unanimous selections, Jacobs had a phenomenal final collegiate season. She tallied 473 kills in 33 matches, including a career-high 26 kills in a double-double performance against Iowa, one of seven double-double matches this season. Jacobs set a new career high in aces with 34, tied for the team lead, and totaled 227 digs (third) and was fifth on the team with 63 total blocks. She finished the season with the 10th-most kills in a single season in program history.

• Making the All-Big Ten second team, Nyambio had a strong senior season. Nyambio became the first U-M player since 2003 with 100 blocks or more in a Big Ten season, recording 104, to tie the program record. She finished the season ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 27th in the nation with a .394 hitting percentage over 449 total attempts, recording 220 kills. Nyambio also led the team with 151 total blocks, good for third in the Big Ten and 22nd in the nation. She finished her career seventh in total blocks, seventh in block assists and 12th in solo blocks.

• Sophomore Jenna Hanes led the Wolverines with a .450 hitting percentage with 185 kills and 23 errors over 360 total attempts. Hanes had the highest hitting percentage in program history since the rally-scoring era began in 2001, with a minimum of 300 attacks. She never had more than two errors in a match and was errorless in 15 matches. Hanes also contributed defensively with 118 total blocks, good for second on the team and 14th in the Big Ten this season.

• Junior Morgan Burke led the Wolverines as their starting setter, playing in all 121 sets and starting all 33 matches, totaling 791 assists this season. Burke recorded 20 assists or more in 20 matches this season, including a career-high 56 against Rutgers. She sits eighth all-time in career assists at Michigan with 2,447. Burke was also second on the team in digs with 241 and tied for the team lead with 34 aces.

• Cuchran led the team with 408 digs, finishing her career with 1,083 — the 13th-best total in program history. She tallied double-digit digs in 24 matches this season, including her first two career double-doubles in back-to-back matches, recording 10 assists against Washington and Oregon. Cuchran added a career-high 27 aces, including four in the NCAA Tournament win over Xavier, to become just the fourth Wolverine with four aces or more in an NCAA Tournament match.

• Demetrician was second on the team in kills with 284 on 700 total attempts, for a .214 hitting percentage. She registered seven double-doubles, including an 18-kill, 11-dig performance against Penn State. Demetrician had 190 total digs this season, good for fourth on the team, and added 20 aces and 41 blocks.

• Lydia Johnson finished the season with a career-best 183 kills and 52 errors on 440 total attempts to give her a .298 hitting percentage. Johnson was also third on the team in total blocks (65). Her strongest match of the season came in the upset win over Minnesota with 14 kills on 22 swings along with three block assists.

• After an injury in last year’s preseason, Gordon contributed in her redshirt freshman season. She had 129 kills on the season and added 56 total blocks, with her season high in kills (13) coming against No. 19 Penn State. Gordon started the final 14 matches, during which U-M went 10-4.

Honors and Awards

Morgan
Burke

Maddi
Cuchran

Ella
Demetrician

Jenna
Hanes

Allison
Jacobs

Serena
Nyambio

American Volleyball Coaches Association

All-America (Honorable Mention): Allison Jacobs

All-North Region (First Team): Allison Jacobs, Serena Nyambio

Big Ten Conference

All-Big Ten (First Team): Allison Jacobs

All-Big Ten (Second Team): Serena Nyambio

Sportsmanship Award: Sydney Schnichels

College Sport Communicators

Academic All-America (Third Team): Allison Jacobs

Academic All-Region: Morgan Burke, Allison Jacobs, Lydia Johnson, Serena Nyambio

Academic All-Big Ten

Morgan Burke, Jr., Movement Science

Maddi Cuchran, Gr., Management

Ella Demetrician, So., LSA undeclared

Camille Edwards, R-Fr., Sport Management

Carly Greskovics, Jr., Sport Management

Jenna Hanes, So., Business Administration

Allison Jacobs, Gr., Management

Lydia Johnson, Jr., Movement Science

Trixie McMillin, So., Engineering

Serena Nyambio, Sr., Biology, Health, & Society

Amalia Simmons, Sr., Biopsychology, Cognition, & Neuroscience

Ellie White, So., LSA undeclared

Eight outstanding individuals and one memorable team will be inducted as the seventh class of the Tufts University Athletics Hall of Fame in April 2026. 

The group of honorees represents five decades and eight sports, as Tufts continues to recognize accomplished individuals and teams from its more than 150 years of athletics history.

This seventh class will be inducted at the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame induction dinner on April 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Ticket information will be released in the coming weeks.

Meet the 2026 Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame inductees:

Chance Brady, A17

Football

Chance Brady rewrote the record book and changed the trajectory of the team during his four years playing football for the Jumbos. When Brady arrived at Tufts, the team was mired in a long losing streak. By the end of his career, the team had finished with a 7-1 record in his senior season, which was its best since 1998. 

Brady set or tied 13 team rushing and scoring records. His 1,099 rushing yards in 2016 and 2,692 career total are both Jumbo all-time marks. His 19 touchdowns in 2016 and 35 for his career are also Tufts standards. Brady’s 210 career points scored broke the record of Fred “Fish” Ellis, after whom Tufts’ stadium is named. 

In his final game, Brady had 285 total yards (rushing and receiving) and scored five touchdowns in a 48-35 win at Middlebury College. A two-time NESCAC Player of the Year, he earned New England Football Writers and Gridiron Club Player of the Year awards as a senior.

Mark Buben, A79

Football

After a dominant career on the defensive line at Tufts, Mark Buben was signed as a free agent by the New England Patriots of the National Football League. 

One of just two Jumbos to play in the NFL during the modern era, Buben appeared in 35 games during three seasons in the NFL with the Patriots (1979, 1981) and the Cleveland Browns (1982). In 1981 he had an interception that he returned 49 yards to help set up a touchdown in a 33-17 Patriots victory over the Chiefs. 

At Tufts he was a ferocious defender who intimidated opposing quarterbacks. His 31 career sacks still stand as the most in team history. The 12 sacks he recorded in both 1977 and 1978 remain tied for the most in a single season at Tufts. Buben’s dominant defensive play as the team won the final four games of 1978 helped set the tone for the Jumbos’ subsequent 1979 undefeated season.

Jo Clair, A14

Softball

A leader of two national championship softball teams at Tufts, Jo Clair graduated in 2014 as one of the most prolific hitters in NCAA Division III history. A four-year starter at catcher, Clair was part of the battery with Tufts Hall of Fame pitcher Allyson Fournier that led the Jumbos to NCAA titles in 2013 and 2014. She also helped head coach Cheryl Milligan’s team win three straight NESCAC Championships from 2012-14. 

Clair’s 67 career home runs are third-most in NCAA history, and her 220 runs batted in are eighth-most all-time. The 24 home runs she hit in 2014 led the nation and are tied for the second-most in a single-season ever. 

Her 156 total bases that year are fourth-best for one season in NCAA history. Clair’s 498 career total bases is another NCAA all-time top-10 mark. A three-time NFCA All-American and a four-time NESCAC All-Conference honoree, including Player of the Year in 2014, Clair was also an Academic All-American as a senior.

Fred Hintlian, A76

Men’s Track & Field

Tufts’ first-ever NCAA national champion in any sport, Fred Hintlian was one of the great hurdlers of his era in track & field. At the second-ever NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Berea, Ohio, Hintlian won the 440-yard hurdles title with a time of 52.15 seconds in 1975. 

Due to the NCAA switching to metric measurements for race distances in 1976, Hintlian’s 52.15 mark stands in perpetuity as the Division III record for the 440-yard hurdles event. He was also the runner-up in the NCAA 400-meter hurdles in 1976, and had been third for the 440-yard race at the 1974 Nationals, making him a three-time All-American. 

During his career at Tufts, Hintlian won four Eastern Intercollegiate titles in the hurdles and was the New England champion in 1974. A five-time team MVP (indoors and outdoors), Hintlian received Tufts’ Bennett Memorial Scholarship and Frederick Melvin Ellis Prize during his career for academic and athletic excellence. 

Dennis Mink, A75

Men’s Basketball

A 6’7” forward, Dennis Mink was a force in the frontcourt for the successful Tufts men’s basketball teams of the early 1970s. Despite playing just three seasons, Mink graduated in 1975 as the Jumbos’ all-time leading scorer with 1,447 points (currently seventh all-time). 

He is one of just two players in Tufts history to average better than 20 points per game for his career. As a senior in 1974-75, Mink scored 23.4 points per game, including a 40-point game. He was also #2 on the team’s career rebounds list upon graduation with 839 (still fifth).

Ineligible to play on the varsity team as a freshman due to NCAA rules, Mink was a sophomore on the 1972-73 Tufts team that won 22 games, captured the ECAC New England championship, and was inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023. He averaged 12.4 rebounds that year, the third-best mark in team history. Mink’s 640 career field goals made in three seasons remain fifth all-time at Tufts.

Jessica Stewart, A02

Women’s Volleyball

The Jumbo Volleyball program’s first Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Jessica Stuart took the Jumbos to another level with her play during her career from 1998 to 2001. An all-around player, at the time of her graduation Stuart was first on the Tufts career lists for kills (1665) and service aces (214), while also ranking fifth all-time in digs (1390) and ninth in blocks (207). 

She posted two of the top three single-season kills marks, including a program-best 452 kills in 1999. At the time, she was the only Jumbo ever to record 30 kills in one match, doing it twice, including 31 versus Brandeis in 2001. 

She also had two of the top three Tufts career service aces totals, led by the 73 aces she served in 2001. The NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 1998 and then a two-time All-Conference selection (2000 and 2001), Stuart helped lay the groundwork for a Tufts program that would blossom in the 2000s.

Jessica Trombly Rogers, A04

Women’s Soccer / Women’s Track & Field

One of the great multi-sport athletes in Tufts history, Jessica Trombly Rogers was a leading scorer for the soccer team and a national champion hurdler in track & field. 

In her first semester at Tufts, Trombly was an offensive leader on the 2000 women’s soccer team that made a dramatic run to the NCAA championship game. She was NESCAC’s Rookie of the Year that season, a three-time All-Conference honoree overall and finished her soccer career fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list with 58 points (22 goals, 14 assists). 

On the track, she won the 2004 NCAA Outdoor 400-meter hurdles title with a time of 59.98 seconds. Equally impressive, Trombly won five events—200m, 400m, 55-meter hurdles, long jump, 4×400 relay—at the New England Division III Indoor Track and Field championships in 2003. 

A four-time All-American overall, Trombly still holds Tufts records in the 400 meters indoors and the heptathlon outdoors. She received Tufts’ Hester L. Sargent Award as Best Female Athlete in back-to-back years (2003 and 2004).

1985-86 Women’s Swimming & Diving Team

Formed in 1974, the Tufts women’s swimming & diving team quickly became one of the best in New England. The program’s early success peaked when head coach Nancy Bigelow’s 1985-86 team won the New England championship and then placed 10th at the NCAA championships. 

With an experienced group of swimmers and divers who had helped the team earn back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1983-84 and 1984-85, the Tufts team then captured the program’s first-ever New England championship in 1985-86. 

The Jumbos defeated rival Williams College for the first time to win the New Englands, with six individuals and three relays winning titles. The team’s top-10 NCAA finish was significant because the AIAW national organization had recently disbanded and the NCAA Division III championship meet remained as the only national competition attended by Division III teams. 

Eight Jumbos earned All-American honors in 10 events at the national championship. All-Americans Kelly Brown, Jane Donahue, Ann Erickson, Laurie Frankel, Ceci Grimm, Beth Harris, Ann McCann, and Amy Moran led the team.

Brown & Blue Award

Included in the bylaws for the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame is a provision that permits the Selection Committee to present an award designed to recognize alumni, donors, benefactors, staff, friends, and supporters who have made significant contributions to the success of Tufts Athletics over the years.

The name of this very special award is The Brown & Blue Award. This year’s recipient is Mike Skeldon. The outstanding progress that Tufts University has made in improving its athletics facilities over the past 15 years is largely due to the significant contributions of Skeldon. 

As senior project manager of major construction projects for Tufts, he oversaw the construction of the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, which opened in 2012 as the sparkling new home of Tufts Athletics. 

He also helped develop the Athletics Master Facilities Plan, worked on the Tufts Squash Center, which opened in 2020, was part of early iterations of what would become Sol Gittleman Park for baseball, and was involved in the first round of Aquatics Center work with a prospective design/build team. 

Skeldon was a natural problem-solver who could creatively figure out ways to get things done in an economically common-sense way. He passed away in 2019, but left a legacy of work that invaluably supported Tufts’ varsity, club sport, and intramural/recreation programs. He also trained with the Tufts Marathon Team, under legendary coach Don Megerle, and finished the historic Boston Marathon in 2018.