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Photos: Wisconsin volleyball 2025 season in photos

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two moves ultimately stood above the rest amid an avalanche of volleyball activity in the transfer portal late last year: Eva Hudson from Purdue to Kentucky and Kyndal Stowers from Baylor to Texas A&M.

It was a literal shift of power from the Big Ten and the Big 12 to the SEC.

Hudson and Stowers committed within 30 minutes of each other, as Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison remembers it. They were stars at their former schools — in two leagues that have combined to win 16 national championships in this sport over the past 26 seasons.

Morrison’s first thought? Fun times ahead in the SEC.

Their impact has resonated more widely. Sunday at T-Mobile Center and in front of an ABC audience, Kentucky (30-2) and Texas A&M (28-4) will play for the national championship. Hudson and Stowers are All-Americans. They provide just a segment of the firepower on stacked rosters for the Wildcats and Aggies.

The SEC has arrived as a force in women’s volleyball, in position to challenge the Big Ten as the best conference nationally. The conference secured a second national championship — and the first in a traditional fall season — with semifinal wins Thursday by Kentucky against Wisconsin and Texas A&M against Pitt.

KENTUCKY. TEXAS A&M. FOR IT ALL 🏆

The first ALL-SEC National Championship in NCAA Volleyball history 🙌@KentuckyVB | @AggieVolleyball pic.twitter.com/rpBxTCVrTu

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 19, 2025

The Wildcats won it all in the pandemic-adjusted 2020 season, played in the spring of 2021.

That championship remains the most treasured by Greg Sankey, he said, among the football- and baseball-heavy collection assembled in his decade as SEC commissioner.

“It broke down doors,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said, “that either Kentucky could do it again or someone else in the league can do it.”

When Sankey visited Lexington on Labor Day weekend in 2021, Kentucky and Skinner presented him with a national championship ring.

“I don’t get emotional much,” Sankey said Thursday after watching the Aggies and Wildcats win. “But to know all that had taken place to get to that point, it’s something we had never done as a league.”

Not long after Sankey took power in 2015, he saw the potential for growth in volleyball and wanted a piece of the action. Florida, under coach Mary Wise, who retired after last season, had long carried the SEC flag. But the Gators never reached the mountaintop, losing in national championship matches against USC in 2003 and Nebraska in 2017.

Then came Kentucky’s breakthrough.

The popularity of volleyball is exploding. Viewership and participation nationally are on the rise. The professional game has emerged in the United States, with two major women’s leagues (Major League Volleyball and League One Volleyball). In the SEC, Vanderbilt rekindled its program after 45 years. Schools are shattering attendance records and devoting name, image and likeness resources to the sport.

Sankey, looking for an edge, pushed for the SEC to rekindle its postseason tournament, which it hadn’t staged since 2005.

The Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC do not contest postseason championships. The logic? Top programs build resumes strong enough to earn high seeds in the NCAA Tournament without a taxing finish to November.

The commissioner “begged and pleaded,” according to Morrison, knowing that a tournament would create opportunities for exposure and growth.

And with four-time national champion Texas on board after it won consecutive titles in the Longhorns’ final seasons in the Big 12, the time was right.

The tournament came back this year in Savannah, Ga., featuring all 16 programs in a five-day event. Kentucky and Texas played three matches in three days. The Wildcats outlasted the Longhorns in five sets in the final.

“I know volleyball when I’m looking around the country,” Morrison said. “Seeing what us, what Kentucky and what Texas were doing, I thought those were three of the best teams — if not the three best teams — in the country as we went through the season.”

Texas A&M pulled off the upset of the season when it beat No. 1 Nebraska to reach the final four. (Dylan Widger / Imagn Images)

The Aggies made a statement in winning a regional semifinal in five sets against Louisville, the national runner-up a year ago. A&M’s five-set upset against No. 1 Nebraska then punched the Aggies’ first ticket to a national semifinal.

“We’re one of the most prepared teams in the country,” Morrison said. “Kentucky is the same way because they had the same path.”

Kentucky lost this year against Pitt and Nebraska. A&M beat them both in the past week.

The Wildcats beat Texas twice. The Aggies split with the Longhorns.

All that’s left is to settle things on the court. In their lone meeting this year, Kentucky won in College Station, Texas, on Oct. 8 in four sets.

“That feels like a really long time ago,” A&M senior Emily Hellmuth said. “It’s hard to honestly remember, so much has happened since then.

“I think we left feeling like there was a lot of unfinished business there.”

The Aggies lost the final set of that first match, 27-25. Hudson and Stowers, the high-impact transfers, traded the final five kills.

The transfer of power now complete, they’re ready on Sunday to put on a show of SEC force.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Brian Hosfeld has been hired as the 11th Head Coach of New Mexico Volleyball, Vice President/Director of Athletics Fernando Lovo announced on Sunday.

Hosfeld arrives in Albuquerque after a four-year stint as Associate Head Coach at Wichita State with over three decades of coaching experience under his belt. During Hosfeld’ s tenure in Wichita, the Shockers accumulated an 81-46 (.638) record, winning an AAC Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2024. He also departed Baylor as the winningest head coach in school history in addition to winning a national title as an assistant at Long Beach State and reaching the Final Four three times as an assistant at Texas.

“I’m grateful to Athletic Director Fernando Lovo and his executive team—Ryan Berryman, Amy Beggin, and Kasey Byers—for the trust they’ve shown me throughout this process,” said Hosfeld. “I’m honored and excited to represent the University of New Mexico as the next head coach of women’s volleyball.

“The opportunity to build alongside our student-athletes—developing them on and off the court—is what excites me most. UNM is a special place with good history, and I can’t wait to begin this journey with the Lobo family.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to begin a new chapter for Lobo Volleyball with Brian at the helm,” said Lovo. “He brings an abundance of experience on the biggest stages of collegiate volleyball and is a proven winner with a commitment to the values we share as part of the Lobo family.

“His leadership qualities, character and track record of success stood out to us in our search and will be pivotal as we strive to bring home championships to Albuquerque.”
 
Hosfeld began his coaching career at Long Beach State in 1993, winning the national championship in his first season with the 49ers – that season, the 49ers went 32-2, only dropping two sets in their entire NCAA Tournament run. 

After three seasons at Long Beach, he was chosen to lead the Baylor program in 1996, departing eight years later as the winningest coach in program history with 129 victories to his name. Under Hosfeld’s leadership, Baylor reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in 1999, going on to qualify again in 2001.
 
Following his tenure in Waco, Hosfeld joined the staff at Texas in 2004, working primarily with the Longhorns defense and middle blockers. He helped formulate one of the most productive defensive units in the nation, with the Longhorns winning three consecutive Big 12 titles and reaching the Final Four in 2008, 2009 and 2010 — UT advanced to the national championship match in 2009. With Hosfeld on staff, Texas posted an overall record of 186-33, winning at an .849 clip.
 
Hosfeld has also coached at the international level, leading the 2005 USA Volleyball A2 junior national team and USA Volleyball to a silver medal at the 1997 World University Games in Sicily, Italy. Prior to his work with that team, Hosfeld served as USA Volleyball’s director of the World University and National Team tryouts at the Olympic Training Center.
 
Hosfeld’s most recent collegiate coaching experience before heading to Wichita came as an interim assistant coach at Utah, where he spent the 2011 season before transitioning full-time to club volleyball. He helped found nationally-recognized Magnum Volleyball in 1986 and worked with Austin Juniors, Club Red, Arizona East Valley, Spiral and Catalyst before taking over as director of T3 in Coeur d’Alene, where he spent the previous decade before making his return to collegiate volleyball in 2022.

West Valley Preps selects the top volleyball players in the Northwest Valley for the 2025 season.

Note these positions may not be the exact role each player was in all season but it is a position they are listed for. With so many top notch outside hitters in the West Valley, there are three on each team.

The teams are:

First team

OH — Lauren Forelli, junior, Liberty

OH — Addison Wiemann, senior, Sunrise Mountain

OH — Brooklyn Jenkins, senior, Sunrise Mountain

MB — Leylah Duran, senior, O’Connor

S — Lily Rolfes, senior, Sunrise Mountain

L — Kate Federico, senior, Centennial

Second team

OH — Alex Thompson, senior, Centennial

OH — Sadie Snyder, senior, Estrella Foothills

OH — Haley Cashatt, junior, Shadow Ridge

MB — Bailey Lambert, junior, Canyon View

S —  Ashley Logan, senior, Ironwood

L — Anabelle Cummings, sophomore, O’Connor

Third team

OH — Cadence Roberts, senior, Northwest Christian

OH — Molly Whalen, senior, Canyon View

OH — Malaya Gibbs, sophomore, Ironwood

MB — Haley Shinske, senior , Liberty

S — Cassidy Armstrong, junior, Millennium

L — Faith Connell, senior, Cactus

Player of the Year

Addison Wiemann, Sunrise Mountain

Runner up: Lauren Forelli, Liberty

Second runner up: Kate Federico, Centennial

Coach of the Year

Leah Orth, Centennial

Runner up: Carl DeFriez, Liberty

Second runner up: Troy Sherman, Shadow Ridge

Underclassmen to watch

ALA-West Foothills: Hailey Johnson, Soph., OH; Aileen Nimijan, Soph., MB; Cactus: Addison Martin, Fr., S; Skye Moore, Fr., OH; Canyon View: Isabella Hedrick, Fr., L;  Centennial: Isabella Palladono, Fr., S; Deer Valley: Sienna Borst, Soph., OH; Bailey Glass, Soph., DS; Desert Edge: Brin Randall, Soph., OH; Estrella Foothills: Gabby Coronado, Soph., S; Lily Merefield, Soph., S; Glendale Prep: Sanaiah Bajet, Fr., S; Lainey Hunter, Fr., MB; Ironwood: Nevaeh Osborn, Soph., OH; Isabella White, Sopg., MB; Kellis: Kaia Mendez-Winston. Fr., MB; Liberty: Emma Nance, Fr., OH; Millennium: J.J. Taula, Soph., RS; Northwest Christian: Lilly Bliss, Fr., MB; Izabella Bombinski, Fr., OH; O’Connor: Alayah Krein Soph., OH/S,Ahvah Florance-Littles, Fr., S; Peoria: Mia Gomez, Soph., MB, Maja Vojvodic, Fr., OH; Shadow Ridge: Averi Prieto, Soph., RS, Aliyah Watts, Soph., L; Valley Vista: Annalyse Sanchez, Soph., L; Willow Canyon: Emylia Coffman, Soph., MB; Aspen Edwards, Soph., OH.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — We get it. You’re tired of hearing about SEC domination. The selection committee favors them, yada yada, because “it just means more.”

But wait. … We’re talking about volleyball here.

For the first time in the conference’s history, two SEC teams will be battling for the volleyball national championship Sunday afternoon when No. 2 Kentucky plays sixth-ranked Texas A&M at T-Mobile Center (3:30 ET, ABC). It took the league nearly four decades to celebrate its first national championship when Craig Skinner’s Kentucky Wildcats won in 2020 — actually spring 2021 because of COVID-19.

But this pairing is not a fluke. The Southeastern Conference had three teams (Kentucky, Texas and Texas A&M) ranked in the top 10 in the final regular-season poll, and a Wisconsin upset of Texas prevented the final four from being three-fourths SEC. Sunday’s outcome will ensure that four teams currently in the SEC have won the national championship in the past six years (Kentucky 2020, Texas 2022 and 2023), though Texas didn’t join the conference until 2024.

Skinner opened his news conference Friday by acknowledging the shift.

“Kudos to the SEC and the coaches in our league,” Skinner said, “for getting our conference in the position to be an elite league in the sport of volleyball in the NCAA.”

Skinner, an assistant when Nebraska won a national championship in 2000, knew the dearth of SEC dominance might hinder recruiting when he took the Kentucky job in 2005. So, he used the “Come join us and be the first SEC team to win a national championship” pitch.

“To be really good, you’ve got to invest a lot of time,” Skinner said. “I’d been a part of a national championship program. I just wanted people to feel what that was like. Not just winning it, but the work and the time and the competitive desire it takes to get to that point, because that’s the way life is.

“So, for us to do that, I think, broke down doors that either Kentucky could do it again or someone else in the league can. We’re very proud of doing that.”

Tiffany Daniels, the SEC’s associate commissioner and senior woman administrator, said nonconference scheduling, school investment and strong coaching hires have played a part in the ascent. A little bit of pride didn’t hurt, either.

Daniels said when Greg Sankey became commissioner in 2015, he noticed that volleyball was the only sport among the conference’s then-21 offerings that hadn’t produced a national title. He met with the coaches in the conference and asked what the SEC could do to help win a championship. She said the coaches “really leaned into that question and started to think strategically about how to move forward.

“I think that is what we’re seeing, the results of the fruits of that labor,” Daniels said.

Another thing that might have helped the league in the NCAA tournament was the return of the SEC tournament this fall. It was the first conference tournament for volleyball in two decades, and Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison admits he was “a little bit iffy” on the prospect at first. None of the other major conferences — the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 — hold conference tournaments.

“Commissioner Sankey begged and pleaded us,” Morrison said. “They wanted something to build — and this is a bad word, but — commercialization around, which is not a bad word anymore because it has to go that way in order for our sport to be viable and in order for a lot of things to happen.

“I think they did an amazing job with that. All of a sudden we got really good volleyball against really good teams in pressure situations.”

It was a primer for things to come.

Kentucky and Texas A&M were pressure-tested during their runs to the final. The Wildcats rallied from a set down against Wisconsin in the national semifinals and advanced in five sets. The Aggies escaped a two-set hole against Louisville in the regional semifinals and then upset Nebraska in a pressure-packed fifth in the regional final.

Both teams like to talk about how grit and mental toughness have pushed them to the championship match. Now, there’s one more win to be had in the 2025 NCAA volleyball season. The only certainty is that an SEC team will claim it.

Here are four other storylines to watch during the championship match.

Power of the pins

Traditionally, the best pin hitters in the title game claim the title for their team. Last year, it was Penn State’s Jess Mruzik. The year before that, it was Texas’ Madisen Skinner. And the year before that, it was Texas’ Logan Eggleston. Well, you get the idea.

There are several powerful pins in Sunday’s championship game — on both sides. The Wildcats feature Purdue transfer Eva Hudson (4.59 kills per set) and Brooklyn DeLeye (4.62 kills per set), and the Aggies showcase Logan Lednicky (4.11 kills per set) and Kyndal Stowers (3.50 kills per set). They’ve accounted for 351 kills in the tournament.

But it won’t be just a competition to see which team can outhit the other. Hudson said it might be as much about who can “outgrit” the other.

“Who lasts the longest, honestly,” she said. “And I think that’s what most of these games in the end, especially during the final four championship, comes down to, right? Players like Kyndal and Logan never stop fighting. They’re never going to stop swinging away. And we’re the same way.”

In Thursday’s semifinal against Wisconsin, Hudson dominated in the fourth and fifth sets. Her final kill of the game sealed the Wildcats’ fate and earned her 29 kills with a .455 hitting percentage. In the sweep against Pitt, Stowers and Lednicky led their program to its first title game with a combined 30 kills. When asked about her rise in kills in the past few games, Stowers said she’s at a loss for words.

“Pure gratitude. This is crazy,” Stowers said. “This is an absolute crazy experience. We have had faith in ourselves all year. From the first game of the season, we knew we were capable of this.”

Remember October?

Kentucky beat the Aggies 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 27-25 in an Oct. 8 thriller in College Station. Texas A&M has clearly hit another gear in December, though, knocking off No. 20 TCU, No. 9 Louisville, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 4 Pitt in the postseason. “That feels like a really long time ago,” A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth said of the regular-season matchup. “It’s hard to honestly remember, so much has happened since then. I do remember after the fourth set everyone, including all the fans and us, feeling so — I don’t know — it was a confusing feeling of, we knew that we were about to go to the fifth. I think we left feeling like there was a lot of unfinished business there.”

Kentucky outside hitter Asia Thigpen took note of the Aggies’ big block presence in the regionals last week in Lincoln. “They’ve grown as a team since [October],” Thigpen said. “We have, too. I think just continuing to instill confidence in ourselves that we can do this.”

Hudson echoed Thigpen.

“Both of our teams have gotten so much better since then that it’s kind of like playing a whole new team,” Hudson said. “And I mean, kind of a similar game plan, but you’ve got to be ready for anything at this point in the tournament, too.”

Vibe check

A massive number of fans from Nebraska were supposed to travel down Interstate 29 to Kansas City this weekend, but Texas A&M squashed those plans last week with the upset over the No. 1 Cornhuskers. Still, the vibe has been festive in the City of Fountains.

Last year’s final drew an NCAA postseason record of 21,860 fans to the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. It didn’t hurt that Louisville was playing Penn State. (The home team lost in four games.)

The sport’s popularity has grown each season, and this weekend’s interest in Kansas City is no exception. Downtown restaurants have had waiting lists, and the crowds were lively at T-Mobile Center on Thursday night for the semifinals.

“The vibe has been amazing,” Morrison said.

The NCAA said the attendance for Thursday night’s semifinal session was 18,322 — a sellout. Kristin Fasbender, the NCAA’s director of championships and alliances, said the empty seats in the lower bowl during the first match were mostly team-block allotments that were eventually occupied by fans who hadn’t shown up yet for the second match. “There’s lots of excitement,” Fasbender said.

Nebraska fans, still working through their stages of grief, have helped fill up the arena. On Thursday night, the crowd erupted when a fan in Husker gear appeared on the video board.

Morrison took notice of all the red.

“One of the things I really respect about Nebraska fans is a lot of them have showed up,” he said. “I know there was some stuff on social media, disappointment and that. I mean this: If we can do what I believe we can do at Texas A&M, I believe the 12th man can become that, too, where it’s passionate about volleyball, might show up to the final four, regardless of if we’re in it or not.

” … We need to grow volleyball fans, and take a card from Nebraska in that and go. I think the crowd has been amazing. I had a bunch of thumbs-up. I couldn’t tell if it was ‘good job’ or ‘gig ’em’ from Nebraska fans as I was walking out [Thursday] night.”

X factors

Though Hudson and DeLeye make most Kentucky headlines, Hudson believes her team’s X factors are middle blocker Lizzie Carr and Thigpen.

“When Lizzie Carr gets going, we’re dang near unstoppable,” Hudson said. “She’s such a fire to the team. But then we also have Asia Thigpen, who is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever known, and she makes me better. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Hudson added that Thigpen, who is 5-foot-11, oftentimes gets overlooked because of her height — emphasizing her ability to be their secret weapon on the court.

The Aggies’ X factor heading into this game might be their ability to play with what their team has described as “so much grit.” It also might be the nine seniors — let’s not forget about middle blocker extraordinaire Ifenna Cos-Okpalla — on their roster who are ready to make their last college game the most memorable yet.

“I want to end my collegiate career as a winner,” senior Ava Underwood said. “We go into the gym every single day with the mindset that we’re going to be the grittiest team out there. We all want to play for each other. We want to win for each other.”

In his third season with the Aggies, Morrison led his program to its first final four and first national championship game. After sweeping Pitt in the semifinals, he credited his seniors for changing the future.

“We built this. Not just a team that can go to the final four and play for a national championship this year, but I think something that is going to last,” Morrison said. “That’s what I came to Texas A&M to do — to build something that is going to last. This group has helped us do that.”

Volleyball benefit held in honor of Moeller student killed in hit-and-run

Updated: 10:18 AM EST Dec 21, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

A volleyball benefit was held Saturday to honor the life of a Moeller volleyball player gone too soon.Dozens of people from the community gathered at Grand Sands Volleyball, in Loveland, to honor the life of Dylan Straughn.In October, Straughn died after being hit by a car while riding his bike.Family members spoke with WLWT and said Straughn would have loved the event.”Realistic answer, I would say he would probably cry. He’d be really, really surprised,” his family said. “He didn’t think he fit in. And to see all of these kids that are here to support him, it’s really surprising. He would be like, ‘I’m not going in there, bro.’ But we would definitely be playing right now.”All of the proceeds from the event are going towards a scholarship in Straughn’s honor. If you’d like to donate, you can do so here.