Craig Skinner, Addi Applegate represent Muncie in NCAA volleyball final

• The NCAA Volleyball National Championship features connections to Muncie, Indiana, on both competing teams.
• Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner is a Muncie native and former Ball State player.
• Texas A&M freshman defensive specialist Addi Applegate is a Yorktown High School graduate and played for Munciana Volleyball Club.
• Kentucky’s roster also includes senior Eva Hudson, another product of the Munciana Volleyball Club.

No matter who wins Sunday’s NCAA Volleyball National Championship between Texas A&M and Kentucky, there will be a national champion from Muncie.

Should Kentucky win it all, Craig Skinner will become a two-time national champion as the Wildcats’ head coach after winning his — and the program’s — first national title in 2020. A 1988 graduate of Muncie Northside and former Ball State men’s volleyball player, Skinner began his coaching career as an assistant at Muncie Burris, where he helped the Owls go undefeated and win state and national championships in 1990.

Kentucky is coming off a thrilling five-set victory over Wisconsin in which Skinner got the better of Badgers head coach Kelly Sheffield, a fellow Muncie native and lifelong friend of Skinner’s. Sheffield coached with Skinner on the 1990 Burris team, and the duo coached the Owls’ junior varsity squad to an undefeated season as well.

Skinner also has a product of Munciana Volleyball Club on his roster in senior outside hitter Eva Hudson. A two-time AAU All-American for Munciana’s 18 Open Samurai team, Hudson had 29 kills in Kentucky’s semifinal win over Wisconsin.

If Texas A&M wins it all, then freshman defensive specialist Addi Applegate will become a national champion in her first season of college volleyball. A four-year varsity player for Yorktown, Applegate helped the Tigers finish as state runners-up as a sophomore in 2022 and again as a senior in 2024. She finished her Yorktown career as the program’s all-time leader in career digs with 2,015 and added more than 300 assists and 160 aces. She earned IHSVCA all-state honors her senior year.

Applegate also enjoyed a stellar club career with Munciana. She was named an AAU All-American twice (12 Open in 2019, 14 Open in 2021) and helped the Munciana Samurai win a Junior Volleyball Association national title in 2024.

As a freshman, Applegate has played in 114 out of 115 possible sets for the Aggies this season and recorded 116 digs and 31 assists with a 0.948 reception percentage. Through five NCAA Tournament matches, she has logged 24 digs and 10 assists.

No. 1-seed Kentucky and No. 3-seed Texas A&M will face off at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The match will be broadcast on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 21.

Whether it’s the Wildcats or the Aggies celebrating on Sunday night, someone is going to make Muncie proud.

Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.