Sports

In-State Matchups on Tap for Volleyball This Weekend

Published

2 months ago

October 30, 2025

Valparaiso (17-6, 8-2 MVC)

Friday, Oct. 31 – at Indiana State (9-13, 3-7 MVC) – 5 p.m. CT

Saturday, Nov. 1 – at Evansville (6-16, 2-8 MVC) – 5 p.m.

Next Up For Valpo Volleyball: It’s an in-state road trip for the Valpo volleyball team this weekend, as the Beacons head south for their lone matchups of the season against Indiana State and Evansville.

Previously: The Beacons had their six-match winning streak snapped last Tuesday at home against UIC, but rebounded with a Homecoming Saturday sweep of Southern Illinois.

Looking Ahead: Valpo plays its final two road matches of the regular season next weekend as it heads further south to Belmont and Murray State.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this week are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats are also available for both matches via ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Carin Avery: In her 24th season as head coach at Valpo, Carin Avery is the all-time winningest head coach across all sports in the history of Valpo Athletics. She has won 524 matches (524-263, .666) at the helm of the program and has led Valpo to three league regular season and three league tournament titles. The program has made seven postseason appearances under Avery, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the championship match of the 2021 NIVC. Avery has coached 61 All-League recipients over her tenure at Valpo, which has spanned three different conferences. She is Valpo’s all-time leader in both victories and winning percentage, and owns a 579-287 (.669) record overall as a head coach.

Series History: Indiana State – Valpo owns the 20-16 edge in the all-time series with the Sycamores, an advantage which is extended to 10-4 since Valpo joined the Valley. The Beacons have won four straight in the series, including both matchups last year – 3-0 in Terre Haute and 3-1 in Valparaiso.

Evansville – Valpo holds a 17-14 advantage in the all-time series, including an 12-4 mark over the Purple Aces since joining the MVC. Last season, the squads split their two matches, each defending their respective home court – Evansville winning in five sets; Valpo winning in three sets.

Scouting the Opposition: Indiana State – The Sycamores enter Friday’s match at 9-13 overall this season and are 3-7 in MVC action – after starting Valley play 3-2, they have dropped their last five matches. Kira Holland ranks third among MVC players with 3.66 kills/set.

Evansville – The Purple Aces, who host UIC Friday before facing Valpo Saturday, enter the week with a 6-16 overall record and a 2-8 mark in Valley play, having lost their last three matches. Kora Ruff ranks second in the Valley with 7.77 assists/set, while Ainoah Cruz is second in digs with 5.15/set.

Into the Top 25: Senior Emma Hickey, who is ranked sixth nationally this year with 5.20 digs/set, achieved another milestone last week, cracking the top-25 in NCAA D-I history in career digs in the third set of the sweep of SIU – making Valpo the only D-I school with three players on that top-25 list. Hickey’s career dig total of 2,546 digs now ranks 24th in D-I history, just 52 away from moving into the top-20. Hickey also moved up the MVC career digs chart last week, passing former Drake star Kylee Macke for fifth in Valley history. Hickey leads all active NCAA players (all divisions) in career digs and owns 649 more digs than any other active Division I player.

Another Week, Another Honor: Hickey has claimed nearly half of the MVC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season, as she racked up her fourth of the year for her performances in the back row last week. The senior averaged 7.14 digs/set, leading all players with 29 digs against UIC and 21 against Southern Illinois, and handled 21 serve receptions without an error. 13 of Hickey’s 21 digs versus SIU came in the third set alone, tying her career best for a single frame. Hickey is now tied for fourth in MVC history with eight career Defensive Player of the Week selections.

8-2 Through 10: Past the halfway mark of the MVC schedule and Valpo still sits in second place with an 8-2 record, one game up on the UIC/Drake tie for third. The second seed is of immense importance this year, providing the team a bye to the semifinals and the right to host their semifinal match. The 8-2 mark through 10 conference matches is the program’s best start to a league slate since the 2013 team was 8-2 through 10 Horizon League contests.

We’re Done Already?: Saturday’s sweep of Southern Illinois was just the second three-set match for the Beacons in MVC play, joining their win at UIC. Valpo has yet to lose a three-set match this season, posting an 8-0 record in such contests.

Road Warriors: The Beacons enter the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record in road matches in MVC play, having taken down Illinois State, Bradley, UIC and Southern Illinois in a nine-day stretch in early October. Going back to the nonconference season, Valpo owns six consecutive true road wins, as you have to go back to the Beacons’ five-set loss at Northwestern way back on Sept. 9 for their last true road loss. The last time Valpo won seven straight true road matches came in 2013.

Déjà vu: The road less traveled is often less traveled for a reason, and asking a team to rally from down two sets to earn a 3-2 win is tough enough to do once, much less in consecutive matches. But that’s what the Beacons accomplished in their wins at Southern Illinois and at home versus Belmont in back-to-back contests – the first time in Carin Avery’s career at Valpo her team has done that in two consecutive outings. Under Avery, Valpo has now rallied from down 0-2 to force a fifth set 27 times and has finished off the comeback with a win in 16 of those matches. Notably, in the two most recent matches, Valpo faced an identical 5-2 deficit in the fifth set, Avery called a timeout and the Beacons then outscored their opponent 13-4 the rest of the way.

Go the Distance: Giving the fans their money’s worth seemed to be a theme of Valpo’s six-match winning streak earlier this month, as four of the wins in the streak (Illinois State, Bradley, Southern Illinois, Belmont) went the full five sets. It is the first time in program history the Beacons have won four five-set matches in a five-match stretch. After having not won 3-2 in back-to-back conference matches since 1992, Valpo has now done so twice this year – the Illinois State and Bradley matches came on back-to-back nights, the first time since 1988 Valpo has done so in conference play on consecutive days.

Winning Tradition Continues: The Beacons secured a winning 2025 season with its home win over Murray State, the 22nd winning season in 24 years under Carin Avery. With 17 wins this year, Valpo is closing in on that 20-win milestone – the program has won 20 or more matches in 18 of Avery’s 23 seasons as well, and has averaged 22 wins per season in Avery’s tenure.

Digging It and Killing It: The Beacons rank among the nation’s best on both sides of the ball this season. Valpo currently leads the the MVC rankings with 16.91 digs/set, a mark which ranks 13th nationally, while it is second in the Valley and 18th nationally with 14.08 kills/set and second in the Valley and 19th nationally with 13.07 assists/set. Notably, that kills mark would be the program’s best kills/set average in a season since 2015.

Warren Racks Them Up: Senior right side Sam Warren has been on an absolute tear over the past few weeks for the Beacons. Warren has led Valpo in kills in four of the last five matches, including each of the last three, and is averaging 3.76 kills/set over that stretch. She has tallied at least 12 kills in seven of the last eight matches as well. In three of Valpo’s last five matches, Warren has tied or surpassed her previous career best in kills – 17 at SIU, 22 versus Murray State and 19 versus UIC. The Murray State match was especially notable, as her career-best kill total – which was the highest kill total by a Valpo player since since Gretchen Kuckkan tallied 25 kills Sept. 3, 2022 against Northern Illinois – came on just 33 swings and she finished with a .576 hitting percentage.

The Right Stuff: Sophomore right side Ava Helming has been pacing the Beacons’ attack all season long and had another strong weekend last weekend, going for 15 kills against UIC and 10 in the sweep of Southern Illinois. The MVC Player of the Week for Oct. 13, Helming has led Valpo in kills 13 times this season and ranks seventh in the Valley with 3.40 kills/set. She has been in double figures in kills in each of Valpo’s 10 MVC matches, including eight times with 15 or more kills.

Kois’ Helping Hands: Senior Addy Kois is moving into striking distance of the Beacons’ career top-10 in assists. Kois, who dished out 45 assists over last weekend’s pair of victories, now owns 2,528 career assists – just 59 shy of Jenny Rohren for 10th in Valpo history in the category.

Meet Me in the Middle: After missing four matches due to injury, sophomore middle Jessica Pickett – who currently ranks second in the MVC in blocks/set – returned to action mid-match last time out versus SIU, recorded a solo block on her first point back on the floor and later added three kills on eight swings. Her fellow middles picked up the slack during her absence, however. Sophomore Lilly Merk has averaged 2.00 kills/set on .304 hitting and 1.10 blocks/set over the last five matches, while senior Maddie Moan tallied 14 kills on 26 swings in her stint in the lineup while also averaging 0.75 blocks/set.

Still Underclassmen: It’s easy to forget, given the number of returnees this year’s Beacon squad features, that a large number of those returnees are still just sophomores. 74.5% of the team’s kills and 75.1% of the team’s blocks have come courtesy of the underclassmen.

Players of the Week: Emma Hickey’s most recent accolade made it eight MVC weekly award winners for Valpo this season.

– Sophomore Ava Helming earned MVC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career Oct. 13. She hit .520 with 15 kills in Valpo’s wins at UIC and at SIU, becoming the first Valpo player to hit at least .500 with 15 or more kills in consecutive matches since Allison Sears in October 2008.

– Hickey was named Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this year after the Illinois State/Bradley road weekend as she averaged 5.60 digs/set and 1.70 assists/set while not committing a serve reception error on 39 attempts.

– Jessica Pickett was named Player of the Week for the first time in her career and Hickey was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week after splitting the Drake/UNI opening weekend of conference play – Pickett hit .391 over the pair of matches with 2.88 kills/set and 1.50 blocks/set, while Hickey averaged 6.25 digs/set and committed just one serve reception error on 45 attempts.

– Hickey was recognized as Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this year following the opening weekend of the season, which saw her earn All-Tournament Team honors at the USI Invitational as she averaged 6.60 digs/set and committed just one serve reception error on 49 attempts.

– On Sept. 15, the Beacons boasted a pair of award winners: Lilly Merk was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging 1.50 blocks/set, highlighted by a 12-block effort in Valpo’s upset bid at Northwestern, while Keira Lucas was tabbed Freshman of the Week as she averaged 2.44 kills/set on .302 hitting and 2.00 digs/set while committing just one serve reception error on 49 attempts at the Lehigh Steel Classic.

Capturing Crowns: Valpo continued its penchant for winning in-season tournament titles under Carin Avery this season, claiming a share of the crown at the USI Invitational and sweeping its way to the Lehigh Steel Classic title. Valpo has won 36 in-season tournament titles in Avery’s time as head coach. The team has won at least one tournament in 18 of her seasons, and multiple tournaments 12 times. Those tournament titles have come in 14 different states.

All-Tournament Accolades: Over the course of Valpo’s four early-season tournaments, six players combined to earn a total of nine All-Tournament Team honors.

– Leatherneck Classic: Emma Hickey, Lilly Merk

– Lehigh Steel Classic: Kadence Brumitt (MVP), Addy Kois

– EMU Tournament: Ava Helming, Merk

– USI Invitational: Helming, Hickey, Sam Warren

New-Look Conference Slate: With MVC membership down to 11 volleyball programs, the conference schedule has been pared back to 16 matches this season, meaning there will be four teams each team plays only once. Valpo’s matchups against Drake and UNI on opening weekend were its lone looks at the Iowa-based schools this season, while the Beacons will also face Evansville and Indiana State just once apiece. In addition, the MVC Tournament will feature just six teams this season after previously featuring eight programs.

MVC Success: Valpo is looking to continue its run of success in conference play again this season, as the program has finished in the top-half of the Valley standings in each of its eight years in the conference, the only MVC program to accomplish that feat. Going back further, Valpo has posted top-half conference finishes in 22 of Avery’s 23 seasons – as well as qualifying for the conference tournament in each of her 23 seasons – and 31 of the last 32 years overall.

Looking Back at Last Year: Valpo is coming off an 18-win season in 2024, a campaign highlighted by the amount of production generated by the team’s youth. Jessica Pickett set program freshman records for hitting percentage and blocks, while Ava Helming had the third-most kills by a freshman in Avery’s tenure as both rookies earned spots on the MVC All-Freshman Team. On the more veteran side, Emma Hickey became the fastest player in program history and tied for the fastest in MVC history to reach 2,000 career digs.

Who’s Back: In a nutshell, everybody who could be. All 16 players who ended last season on the Beacons squad with remaining eligibility return for Valpo in 2025. That group accounted for 78.1% of the kills, 84.4% of the service aces, 78.0% of the digs and 93.9% of the blocks from the 2024 season.

Who’s Gone: Valpo graduated just two players from last year’s squad: Abby Boyle and Elise Swistek. Swistek’s production will be the big piece to replace, as she closed her time at Valpo as one of just 10 players in program history to surpass 1,000 kills (1,018; 19th) and 1,000 digs (1,479; 12th).

Who’s New: The Beacons welcome two freshmen to the large group of returnees this year. Keira Lucas is an outside hitter who was a three-time All-State honoree at Northview [Ind.] H.S., while Olivia Wagner is a setter who helped lead Lakeville South [Minn.] H.S. to the 2024 Minnesota Class AAAA state championship.

Young But Mighty: Legendary college basketball coach Al McGuire is credited for having said “The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.” If that’s the case for last year’s class of Valpo volleyball freshmen, opponents are in for a rough time this season. Last year’s freshman class accounted for 59.1% of the team’s kills, 31.1% of the aces and 73.6% of the blocks in the 2024 campaign. That comes out to a total of 58.7% of the team’s points accounted for by freshmen last season, a mark which ranked third nationally among D-I programs, trailing only Mississippi Valley State and Le Moyne – two programs which combined for just eight wins, compared with the Beacons’ 18 victories. Prior to last season, none of Avery’s teams in her time at Valpo had freshmen account for even 30% of the team’s points.

Digging Deep: Valpo continued its long tradition of strong back row play last fall, finishing the 2024 campaign 19th nationally with an average of 17.20 digs/set. The program has ranked among the top-30 nationally in digs/set in every season since 2009, including 14 seasons among the top-20 and four seasons among the top-10 – highlighted by the 2017 campaign in which Valpo led the nation with 20.03 digs/set. Other top finishes include fourth nationally in the spring 2021 season (20.37/set), a fourth-place rank in 2010 and a sixth-place finish in 2015. Since the move to 25-point scoring, only seven teams have averaged more than 20 digs/set over the course of a season, and Valpo is the only program to have done it twice. 2018 saw Valpo lead the nation with 2,613 total digs – a mark which set a program single-season record and a Division I record in the 25-point era. Valpo also boasts two of the top-10 athletes in D-I history in career digs – Rylee Cookerly (2nd; 3,175) and Taylor Root (10th; 2,752).

Libero on Lockdown: Senior Emma Hickey has been quite simply one of the nation’s most prolific liberos since stepping on campus prior to the 2022 campaign. She’s ranked among the top-15 nationally in digs/set in each of her first three seasons, ending last season in third position with 5.72 digs/set. Her 715 total digs last year were sixth-most in a single season in program history.

The Pickett Fence: Sophomore Jessica Pickett made a big impact at the net in her first season of collegiate volleyball last year. An MVC All-Freshman Team honoree, Pickett ranked third in the Valley in blocks/set (1.14, 139 total) and fourth in hitting percentage (.331). She set Valpo freshman records for both hitting percentage and total blocks – her hitting percentage ranked third overall and second in the 25-point era in Valpo’s single-season record book, while he block total ranked eighth overall and third in the 25-point era.

At the Helm(ing): Sophomore Ava Helming joined Pickett as an MVC All-Freshman Team honoree last season for her strong work on both sides of the net at the right pin as a rookie. Helming ranked second on the team with 293 kills and 78 blocks – her 293 kills is tied for third-most by a freshman under head coach Carin Avery, while 78 blocks ranks sixth by a freshman under Avery. The only other freshman to rank among the top-10 in both kills and blocks by a rookie in the Avery era was another right side in Morgan Beil, who developed into a three-time All-Horizon League performer.

Next Stop, 600: Head coach Carin Avery reached yet another milestone last October, winning her 500th match in charge of the Valpo program with the Beacons’ win at Murray State. Valpo’s all-time winningest coach in any sport, Avery’s 500th win came in her 752nd match in charge of the program. Avery is the second current MVC coach to win at least 500 matches at their current institution, joining UNI’s Bobbi Petersen.

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The best college sports moments for Greater Akron

Published

32 minutes ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dec. 31, 2025, 6:03 a.m. ET

Greater Akron stepped onto the national college scene with authority in a big way in 2025.

From national titles to being drafted at the professional level, area athletes shined.

Here’s our top 10 college moments involving local athletes:

1. Akron Zips men’s soccer returns to NCAA Tournament glory

Behind Big East Offensive Player of the Year Stefan Dobrijevic and conference goalkeeper of the year Mitch Budler, the University of Akron men’s soccer team reached the elite eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

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Volleyball: Qualifying for state tournament fulfilled goal for Nevis – Park Rapids Enterprise

Published

48 minutes ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEVIS – Karly Cobb couldn’t have asked for a better way to begin her reign as the new head coach of the Nevis volleyball team.

Not only did the Tigers go undefeated to capture the Northland Conference title, but they capped off the season by winning the Section 5A championship to qualify for the state Class A tournament. Nevis lost both matches at state to finish the season with a 24-9 record.

“My first season as head coach was incredible. I had the most supportive assistants, the most motivated team, and an incredible backing from the school and community. I am grateful to be a part of this community and am loving every minute of coaching for the Nevis Tigers,” said Cobb. “The team had their success this season due to their willingness to work hard and work together toward their common goal: getting to the state tournament.”

The Tigers won the Northland Conference title with a 7-0 record by defeating Clearbrook-Gonvick (25-20, 25-12, 25-17), Laporte (25-10, 29-27, 23-25, 25-13), Pine River-Backus (25-18, 25-15, 25-18), Cass Lake-Bena (25-12, 25-9, 25-15), Blackduck (25-17, 25-18 25-22), Northome-Kelliher (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-8).

PR-B finished second in the conference with a 6-1 record as Blackduck (5-2), N-K (4-3), Laporte (3-4), W-H-A (2-5), C-G (1-6) and CL-B (0-7) rounded out the standings.

Nevis opened the season with wins over Park Rapids (25-23, 25-23, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10), Fosston (25-15, 18-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-9) and Lake of the Woods (25-20, 25-12, 25-18). The Tigers went 4-1 at the Ada-Borup-West Invitational and 1-3 at the Duluth East Invitational. At Ada, Nevis defeated Thief River Falls (25-22, 25-12), Red Lake County Central (25-19, 25-21), Fosston (23-25, 25-11, 15-9) and A-B-W (25-19, 25-20) while losing to Kittson County Central (25-7, 25-23). In the Duluth tournament, the Tigers defeated Duluth Denfeld (25-17, 25-13) while losing to Cloquet (25-22, 22-25, 15-11), Superior (25-23, 25-17) and Brainerd (27-25, 15-25, 15-5).

To close out the regular season, the Tigers posted wins over Sebeka (25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18), Browerville-Eagle Valley (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-9), Verndale (28-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) and Menahga (24-26, 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 15-6) before going 1-3 at the Pumpkin Classic in Moorhead. Nevis opened that tournament with losses to Moorhead (25-12, 25-8), Fargo North (28-26, 25-19) and Duluth East (25-22, 25-20) before closing with a win over Osseo (25-21, 25-22).

DanikaAnderson010326.S.PRE.JPG — Senior Danika Anderson was named the Northland Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Anderson broke the school record with 52 digs in a match.

For the Section 5A tournament, the Tigers received the No. 1 seed in the West and used wins over No. 9 B-EV (25-14, 25-17, 25-19), No. 4 Bertha-Hewitt (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21) and No. 3 Verndale (25-20, 23-25, 16-25, 25-16, 15-7) to reach the championship match. Nevis earned a trip to the state tournament with a 26-24, 20-25, 25-21, 29-27 win over Swanville, the No. 1 seed in the East, in the section title match.

In their fifth state tournament appearance, the No. 7-seeded Tigers lost to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (25-20, 25-21, 25-21) and Fillmore Central (25-22, 25-13, 25-6). R-T-R, the No. 2 seed, lost to No. 1 Mayer Lutheran in the title match while Fillmore Central, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 5 Cleveland for fifth place. Nevis also qualified for state in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

“I feel that the girls had a good state tournament appearance,” said Cobb. “They played very competitively with RTR, finishing only a few points behind them every set and RTR ended up getting second in the tournament. Of course the girls had to work through nerves since it was their first time playing at (state) for every girl on the team. We then played Fillmore Central, and although that game did not go as we hoped it would, our girls stuck together and still gave it their all.”

Leading the Tigers this season were seniors of Ava Forbes, Clair Isaacson, Brenna Lindow, Danika Anderson and Amber Pyburn. Freshman Mackenzie Lindow and junior Cassandra Bolster rounded out the starting lineup with junior Emma Wike; sophomores Mya Durgin, Evelyn Dierkhising and Kyleigh-Ann Smart; and freshmen Arianna Hamblin and Sage Chase playing key roles as reserves.

BrennaLindow010326.S.PRE.JPG — Brenna Lindow capped off her senior season by being named the Northland Conference’s Outstanding Setter. Lindow concluded her career with more than 1,000 set assists.

Forbes, Isaacson, Brenna Lindow, and Anderson received all-conference honors with Forbes being named the conference MVP, Brenna Lindow being named the conference’s Outstanding Setter and Anderson earning the conference’s Defensive Player award. Pyburn and Mackenzie Lindow were all-conference honorable mention players.

In 26 of the 33 matches (statistics weren’t available for the Thief River Falls, Ada-Borup-West, Duluth Denfeld, Brainerd, Kelliher-Northome, Moorhead and Bertha-Hewitt matches), Forbes led the Tigers with 458 kills, 62 blocks and 44 ace serves while adding 231 digs. Isaacson was second with 315 digs, tied for second with 38 ace serves and had 113 kills and 22 blocks. Brenna Lindow led the way with 782 set assists while contributing 31 blocks, 27 kills and 22 ace serves. Anderson was the team leader with 402 digs while serving 15 aces. Pyburn chipped in 185 kills, 83 digs, 46 blocks and 19 ace serves. Mackenzie Lindow had 190 digs, 112 kills, 38 ace serves and 21 blocks. Bolster had 50 digs and 13 kills. Dierkhising had 24 kills and 17 digs, Durgin had 35 digs and 13 kills, Hamblin had 37 digs, and Chase had 15 digs.

ClairIsaacson010326.S.PRE.JPG — Senior Clair Isaacson received Northland Conference honors this season.

Anderson also broke a school record with 52 digs in a match against Verndale in the postseason. Ava Forbes surpassed 1,000 kills and Brenna Lindow surpassed 1,000 set assists.

The Tigers will have five starting spots to fill, but Cobb is counting on her team to put another competitive group on the floor next season.

“I want to give the seniors a ton of credit for leading our team. Amber, Danika, Clair, Ava and Brenna gave their heart, grit and determination this season. They led with grace and their faith. They showed the other girls in the program what it means to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They had the motto ‘no doubt in my mind’ and they proved that to everyone. There was no doubt that they were here this season to accomplish their goals and they did just that. It is always hard saying goodbye to seniors, but this year is extra hard because these five have all been a part of the program since they were third graders, and I have coached all of them since 8th/9th grade on the JV team. I hope they know what a mark they have made on the Nevis program and I know they will always look back and cherish the memories,” said Cobb. “We will have two returning starters next year in Mackenzie Lindow and Cassandra Bolster. We will also have a few players that came off the bench this year and helped us out in Evelyn Dierkhising, Mya Durgin, Sage Chase and Ari Hamblin. Of course, after graduating five seniors we know we have some building to do. The younger classmen are fired up and want to get back down to St. Paul. They have now experienced the state tournament and want to make it their goal again. Our girls plan to put in the work this offseason and be ready to start off the 2026-27 season strong.”

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Meet the 2025 Birmingham News All-Region volleyball team

Published

1 hour ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Five Birmingham Region high school volleyball teams won to the AHSAA Elite Eight State Championship Tournament this season.

Class 7A Thompson earned a spot in the title match before falling to McGill-Toolen while Hewitt-Trussville lost to Thompson in semifinal action.

Other teams reaching the final four were Class 6A Spain Park and Class 5A Briarwood while Class 6A Homewood tell in first round play.

The Birmingham News All-Region team is comprised of players from Jefferson and Shelby counties, and compiled by the AL.com high school sports staff with input from coaches.

AL.com named Player of the Year, Attacker MVP, Defensive MVP, Setter MVP and Coach of the Year. Award winners are listed separately, but considered first-team selections.

BIRMINGHAM NEWS ALL-REGION VOLLEYBALL TEAM

(Players listed alphabetically)

Sydnie Broom, Hoover

6-1, Sr., Middle

244 kills, region-best 109 blocks, 74 digs, 27 aces

College: Undecided

Christiana Callens, Hewitt-Trussville

5-6, So., Libero

544 digs, 158 assists, 54 aces

College: Undecided

Kamryn Coleman, Homewood

5-8, Jr., Setter/Right Side

791 assists, 119 kills, 24 blocks, 242 digs, 103 aces, region-best 2.4 aces per match

College: Undecided

Lucy Comer, Mountain Brook

5-10, So., Outside Hitter

313 kills, 17 blocks, 291 digs, 45 aces

College: Undecided

Johnna Cox, Hewitt-Trussville

6-0, So., Outside Hitter

466 kills, 31 blocks, 272 digs, 47 aces

College: Undecided

Clara Crawford, Briarwood

5-9, Sr., Middle

223 kills, 67 blocks, 214 digs, 72 aces

College: Undecided

Bristol Hannah, Pelham

5-5, So., Setter

784 assists, 38 kills, 14 blocks, 227 digs, 40 aces

College: Undecided

Marion Haskell, John Carroll

6-1, Sr., Right Side

416 kills, 67 blocks, 88 digs, 25 assists, 42 aces

College: Bucknell

Maddy Henderson, Thompson

6-0, Jr., Setter/Right Side

616 assists, 414 kills, 61 blocks, 323 digs, 85 aces

College: Undecided

Zoe Jones, Montevallo

6-0, Sr., Outside Hitter

Region second-best 498 kills, region-best 14.23 kills per match, 230 digs, 77 aces

College: Wallace-Hanceville

Sullivan Lell, Mountain Brook

5-4, Jr., Libero

477 digs, 84 assists, 50 aces

College: Southern Mississippi

Ja’Niyah Mosley, Spain Park

5-9, Sr., Middle

278 kills, 75 blocks

College: Undecided

Kayleigh Nguyen, Hewitt-Trussville

5-10, Jr., Setter

983 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 192 kills, 66 blocks, 389 digs, 63 aces

College: Undecided

Mae Noerager, Homewood

6-1, Sr., Right Side

222 kills, 49 blocks, 47 digs

College: Trinity (Texas)

Aliyah Pooler, Hoover

5-10, Sr., Outside Hitter

271 kills, 25 blocks, 268 digs, 37 aces

College: Alabama State

Alexis Rudolph, Chelsea

6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter

Region-best 511 kills, region second-best 12.17 kills per match, 41 blocks, 298 digs, 25 assists, 61 aces

College: Undecided

Aubrie Smith, Pelham

5-9, Sr., Outside Hitter

357 kills, 24 blocks, 241 digs, 49 aces

College: Undecided

Noelle Suellentrop, Briarwood

5-11, So., Setter

Region second-best 1,076 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 66 kills, 33 blocks, 252 digs, 68 aces

College: Undecided

Abby Tingle, Hoover

6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter

310 kills, 63 blocks, 70 digs

College: South Alabama

Bea Wiggins, Spain Park

5-11, Sr., Outside Hitter

487 kills, 44 blocks, 353 digs, 55 aces

College: Sewanee

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Juanita Boddie Volleyball — Briarwood’s Julie Roberts readies for action at the Juanita Boddie Tournament at the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala., Aug. 22-23, 2025. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com)Dennis Victory

Julie Roberts, Briarwood

5-10, Jr., Outside Hitter/Right Side

436 kills, 38 blocks, 258 digs, 61 assists, 97 aces

College: Undecided

ATTACKER MVP

Vestavia Hills' Millie Burgess — Vestavia Hills’ Millie Burgess attacks during Class 7A play in the AHSAA North Super Regional volleyball tournament at the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Vasha Hunt | preps@al.com)Vasha Hunt

Millie Burgess, Vestavia Hills

6-1, Sr., Outside Hitter

424 kills, 42 blocks, 294 digs, 43 aces

College: Jacksonville State

DEFENSIVE MVP

AHSAA Volleyball 7A Championship — Thompson’s Kenzly Foote readies for play against McGill-Toolen during the AHSAA Class 7A volleyball state championship at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com)Dennis Victory

Kenzly Foote, Thompson

5-7, Sr., Defensive Specialist

Region second-best 673 digs, region second-best 14.96 digs per match, 151 assists, region-best 104 aces, region second-best 2.31 aces per match

College: Undecided

SETTER MVP

AHSAA Volleyball — Spain Park’s Cailyn Kyes serves against Hartselle during Class 6A play in the AHSAA state volleyball tournament at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Vasha Hunt | preps@al.com)Vasha Hunt

Cailyn Kyes, Spain Park

5-7, Sr., Setter

Region-best 1,144 assists, region-best 24.34 assists per match, 94 kills, 36 blocks, 344 digs, 66 aces

College: Trevecca

COACH OF THE YEAR

Judy Green, Thompson

HONORABLE MENTION

Outside Hitter/Right Side: Leighton Hendley, Briarwood, So.; Helen Morrison, Briarwood, Fr.; Mady Kirkpatrick , John Carroll, Sr.; Hunter Jordan, Montevallo, Sr.; Claire Ogden, Vestavia Hills, Sr.; Layne Moller, Chelsea, So.; Reese Wolfe, Hewitt-Trussville, Sr.; Sarah Johnson, Homewood, Sr.; Adele Moffatt, Mountain Brook, Jr.; Lakhair Yellock, Parker, Sr.; Peyton Harrington, Spain Park, So.

Middle: Brielle Merriweather, Thompson, Jr.; Marley Cowan, Vestavia Hills, Sr.

Setter: Addison Jenkins, Hoover, Sr.; Jayla Green, Thompson, So.; Isabella Marino, John Carroll, Sr.; Wendy McGehee, Shelby County, Sr.; Darby Rhodes, Mountain Brook, So.

Defensive Specialist/Libero: Lillie Hill, Vestavia Hills, Jr.; Sophia Bagley, Chelsea, Sr.; Addison Wood, Homewood, Jr.; Camdyn Kyes, Spain Park, Fr.; Cheyenne Conner, Hoover, Sr.

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Sports

Ted Kopacz – Women’s Volleyball Coach

Published

4 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Ted Kopacz was named the 11th head volleyball coach in Indiana State program history in December 2025. He joins the Sycamores by following stints at Colorado State, Nebraska Omaha, and Colorado, as well as with USA Volleyball.

Kopacz spent two seasons at Colorado State as the lead defensive coach, implementing an opportunistic style of play and mindset focused on improving team defense. The Rams went from last in the conference in opponent hitting efficiency in 2023, to first in both 2024 (.190) and 2025 (.187). Among his individual work included daily practice planning focusing on blocking, team defense, middle/setter offense and overall team development, mapping individual development plans for each athlete.

The Rams’ defensive success propelled Colorado State to both the 2024 Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament championship, earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament Berth since 2019. He guided 2024 AVCA All-American Malaya Jones during the run, while Jones and Emery Herman both recorded AVCA All-Region honors.

He also served as the head coach of the 2024 Mountain West All-Star team that finished as the Silver Medalists at the Global Challenge Tournament held in Pula, Croatia.

Prior to the Rams, Kopacz spent the last two seasons as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Nebraska Omaha. At Omaha, he mentored the setter position and assisted in the development of offensive game-plans. Kopacz helped Omaha to their first D1 NCAA tournament appearance and first Summit League Championship in 2023. His work with the program included mentoring AVCA All-American McKenna Ruch, while also helping guide Ruch and Shayla McCormick to AVCA All-Region honors.

Kopacz started his college coaching career at the University of Colorado in January of 2021 as a Volunteer Assistant Coach. With the Buffaloes, he assisted with the training of first contact and floor defense and helped design scouting reports and prepare the scout team.

The Libertyville, Illinois native played club volleyball at Indiana University where he was a captain and earned All-Big Ten and All-MIVA honors. Kopacz graduated from Indiana with a degree in Informatics and Computing with a specialty in Sports Marketing and Management.

After graduation from Indiana in 2016, he worked in Benefits Administration, most recently as a Senior Account Manager at bswift, while consulting for several different clubs and high school teams in the Chicagoland area.

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Volleyball Signs UCLA Transfer Kiki Horne, Bolsters 2026 Attacking Force – UCF Athletics

Published

5 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Horne, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year after her junior season at Millbrook High School, leading the squad to a historic 29-1 record and the Class 4A State Championship. After his outstanding prep career, the future Knights’ collegiate journey started on the West Coast, competing for UCLA as a freshman in 2024.

She was one of two Bruins to compete in all 29 matches, garnering the starting nod in nine contests. Horne tallied 249 kills and a .169 hitting clip to complement 14 double-digit kill performances, including a tantalizing stretch of seven consecutive to bridge non-conference and Big Ten play.

In the Los Angeles showdown, Horne boasted a career-high 17 kills, one of many remarkable outings from the then-freshman.

During her sophomore slate, Horne continued to feature for the Bruins in critical moments, tallying a kill in the NCAA Tournament against one-seeded Kentucky. She finished the season with 10 kills on 32 attempts, seeing time in seven matches.

On the defensive end, Horne’s athletic ability and IQ propelled the future Knight to 0.40 blocks per set and 0.47 digs per set in two years.

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Mia Kinney, 2025 5-Star Preps Volleyball Player of the Year

Published

5 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Catholic junior Mia Kinney doesn’t mind playing out of her club and college position for the Lady Irish volleyball team.

She is an offensive force as an outside hitter and is a six-rotation player for Catholic.

Yet Kinney will play defense in college, signing scholarship papers to play libero or defensive specialist at Vanderbilt.

And that’s her focus during Catholic’s offseason for volleyball, which is in-season for Kinney at K2 Volleyball.

“I’m just trying to get a little bit more polished in my libero position,” said Kinney, the 2025 5Star Preps Volleyball Player of the Year, “just because pretty much my entire volleyball career I’ve just been doing different things, and just playing whatever (position) my team needs me to.”

Her versatility and talent were a big reason Catholic (25-10) had another big season in 2025.

Kinney combined powerful hitting (332 kills) with her setting (68 assists), defense (239 digs), serving (72 aces), and excellent passing in leading the Lady Irish to the Division II-AA Final Four.

Catholic coach Brent Carter said he’s able to use Kinney’s versatility because his senior libero, Nora James, has similar talents like Kinney.

“We get creative and move our libero around because our libero (James) is also a very skilled player,” Carter said. “Sometimes, our libero is playing left-back defense and sometimes she’s playing middle-back defense, so it gives us a nuance to where we put Mia, and it gives us an attacking threat out of the back row.”

Kinney’s passing is uncanny, too, and it was on full display at the state tournament, where the Lady Irish endured an emotional rollercoaster.

Catholic staved off elimination with a 3-0 victory over Chattanooga Baylor on Oct. 21 in their second Final Four match of the day, then lost on Oct. 22 to Christ Presbyterian Academy of Nashville by a 3-0 set score.

In the loss to CPA, Kinney’s passing rating was 2.82 on the 3.0 scale used for volleyball passing statistics; Carter raved about her passing in the season ending match.

“To knock Baylor out in a sweep was like a big deal to our kids emotionally,” Carter said, “and we just could not get it together against CPA. We needed to be passing well like we normally pass, and we just weren’t, but Kinney still passed a .282 in that match. And a .282 is best in the world. It’s unbelievable.”

Kinney transferred to Catholic from Baylor before the 2024-25 school year, earning All-5Star Preps first-team honors as the Lady Irish reached the state sectionals (quarterfinals).

Her sister, Elli, and brother, Cooper, are graduates of Baylor.

Elli (2023 Baylor graduate) is a junior libero for Vanderbilt’s volleyball team and Cooper (2021 Baylor graduate) is an infielder with the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball organization.

Mia’s transfer to Catholic was a natural move because she was playing full-time with K2 Volleyball while attending Baylor in Chattanooga.

“It’s helped me out in so many different ways, and I’m really glad we made that decision,” she said of going to Catholic.

Kinney committed to Vanderbilt on June 15 of this year. While Elli was influential in Mia’s decision, she didn’t push Mia toward Vanderbilt.

“She loves it (Vanderbilt), and she just really helped me out through the whole recruiting process,” Mia said. “She didn’t pressure me in any way at all, but she was just there and really helpful for me. She really loves Vandy and I kind of got to see the inside scoop of that, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.”

Kinney said the 2025 season was a thrill for her and the Lady Irish, and she looks forward to another postseason run in 2026.

“I think there’s a bit of a reputation for volleyball at Catholic,” Kinney said.

Carter expects Kinney to take another critical role next season. He said Kinney is the most competitive player he’s coached in almost 10 years, when he coached Kamila Cieslik, a 2017 Catholic graduate who played five years at Rutgers.

“Nobody anywhere competes like (Kinney), and it’s mostly with herself,” Carter said. “She wants to be better every single time she touches the ball, and we haven’t had a kid like her since Kamila Cieslik, in 2016. Just a died-in-the-wool competitor, and here’s the thing nobody would question: She is the team leader.

“After every point, she is the one saying the right things, doing the right things. What she and I spent the most time on was how to handle those situations, and the management of each kid, how they needed to be managed out on the floor. So not only was it a players’ team instead of just a coaches’ team, and it was great.”

Article written by Dave Link/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2025 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.

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