LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men’s basketball junior Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has been named the Raising Cane’s Outstanding Rebel of the Week, the school announced Friday.

Gibbs-Lawhorn has earned the recognition for the first time this season, while it’s also the men’s basketball team’s second of the year.

The award goes to the student-athlete who turned in the best individual performance during the previous week of competition from Monday through Sunday as voted on by the UNLV Athletics Strategic Communications department.

A native of Lafayette, Indiana, Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Runnin’ Rebels to a Mountain West opening 84-72 win over Fresno State. He scored a career-high 28 points, while grabbing seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a blocked shot.

Additionally, Gibbs-Lawhorn shot 9 of 15 from the field, made all four of his free throw attempts and shot 60% on 3-pointers (6 of 10).

2025-26 Outstanding Rebel of the Week Award Winners
Sept. 3 – Aamaris Brown, Football
Sept. 11 – Jaida Harris, Volleyball
Sept. 16 – Alondra Alarcon, Volleyball
Sept. 23 – Marsel McDuffie, Football
Sept. 30 – Zi Yu Foong, Women’s Golf
Oct. 7 – Kayden McGee, Football
Oct. 14 – Anthony Colandrea, Football
Oct. 22 – Jaida Harris, Volleyball
Oct. 27 – Ilia Snitari, Men’s Tennis
Nov. 5 – Michelle Madrid, Women’s Soccer
Nov. 12 – Jai’Den Thomas, Football 
Nov. 12 – Meadow Roland, Women’s Basketball
Nov. 18 – Issac Williamson, Men’s Basketball
Nov. 26 – Ilia Snitari, Men’s Tennis
Dec. 3 – Jai’Den Thomas, Football

Dec. 10 – Bryson Huey, Men’s Swim & Dive
Dec. 26 – Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Men’s Basketball

-UNLV-

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Texas A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth is transferring to LSU to play with the Tiger beach volleyball program, LSU announced on social media Friday.

Hellmuth could not have returned to defend the national championship with A&M this season, as she is out of eligibility in the indoor game. In switching sports, she will gain a year of eligibility and will be able to play two spring seasons for the Tigers while earning a master’s degree.

Hellmuth finished third on the Aggies in kills (316) and kills per set (2.70) this season as a key piece of A&M’s balanced attack. In 2024, Hellmuth tallied a career-high 330 kills, with a 3 kill average per set. The Highland Park native transferred to A&M after spending her first two seasons at Pepperdine.

The Aggies will need to find a significant number of replacements on the attack, returning only outside hitter Kyndal Stowers in their top 6 attackers from the national championship season.

On Dec. 23, A&M added Marquette outside hitter Natalie Ring and Ohio State middle blocker Kaia Ring through the transfer portal, according to releases and social media posts by the program. Friday, A&M announced the addition of Boise State middle blocker Eliza Sharp.

Ring paced the Golden Eagles with 497 kills and a 4.6 kill per set average, while hitting. 274. Castle recorded 200 kills, with seven double-digit kill matches, and 91 blocks last season.

“We value speed at the middle blocker position and it’s rare to see someone with Kaia’s length who can move the way she does,” A&M head coach Jamie Morrison said in a statement. “Beyond the physical tools, she is an incredible human. I truly enjoyed every part of the recruiting process with Kaia and can’t wait to have her here in Aggieland.”

Sharp was the Mountain West Conference freshman of the year after ranking second on the Broncos’ in kills with 250, averaging 2.21 per set. She hit at a .323 clip and tallied 140 blocks.

“It’s hard to win conference awards as a middle blocker and Eliza comes to us as the reigning Freshman of the Year in her conference,” Morrison said in a statement. “She is an elite athlete as both a blocker and an attacker who will continue the lineage of great middle blockers at Texas A&M. From our first phone call, I knew she would be a great fit for our culture, not just as a player, but as a person who embodies the values of Texas A&M.”

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BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (FOX 44) – Texas A&M Volleyball’s Logan Lednicky has signed her first professional contract with League One Volleyball (LOVB) Houston, the organization announced Friday.

Texas A&M Athletics says Lednicky joins the Houston based LOVB team after spearheading the Aggies to the program’s first national title. The opposite hitter etched her name in Texas A&M history, as she broke the program rally-scoring record for career kills concluding her four years with 1,686.

The Sugar Land, Texas, native developed a well-rounded game throughout her four years but offensively is where she excelled. She recorded double-digit kills in 94 matches during her career, including 23 straight to conclude the 2025 campaign which led to a national crown.

Texas A&M Athletics says Lednicky showed her versatility during her time in Aggieland, racking up 379 blocks which ranks 11^th in program history and secured back-to-back 100-block seasons in her junior and senior campaigns. She also tacked on 808 digs which helped account for 28 career double-doubles.

Lednicky cemented herself as an all-time great for the program and received a pair of AVCA Second Team All-America honors, was a four-time All-SEC and All-Region selection, AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist, NCAA Tournament Team recipient, NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and five-time SEC weekly award winner.  

Texas A&M Athletics says yhe pin hitter got her international career started this past summer, as she received her first senior-national team call up for the United States and was named to the Volleyball Nation’s League roster for the opening two weeks in Brazil and Serbia. She competed in seven of the eight matches over the two weeks, tallying 43 points on 38 kills and five blocks, while adding 26 digs.

One member of Purdue’s 2025 recruiting class has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Defensive specialist Mattie Casale decided to explore opportunities following the conclusion of the Boilermakers’ 2025 campaign, which concluded in the Elite Eight.

Casale, a 5-foot-7 freshman, has also already found a new home. On Christmas Eve, Houston posted on social media that it had received a commitment from the former Boilermaker. She will have all four seasons of eligibility remaining with the Cougars.

Purdue ➡️ Houston

Mattie is joining the Cougar Volleyball family! 🏐 pic.twitter.com/BEvGaS98Ee

— Houston Volleyball (@UHCougarVB) December 24, 2025

Casale spent one season in West Lafayette but did not play in any matches. She used the 2025 campaign as a redshirt year.

Houston added three new players to the roster in recent weeks, trying to bolster its squad ahead of the 2026 campaign. The Cougars also received commitments from middle blocker Kaitlyn Evans (Loyola Marymount) and outside hitter Sydney Jones (Tennessee).

“Our volleyball staff has been working to rebuild Houston Volleyball and with the two transfers we announced last week, we have improved our team for the 2026 season,” head coach David Rehr said in a statement. “The additions of Casale, Evans and Jones continue to make us a better volleyball team.”

Casale joined Purdue as a member of the 2025 recruiting as the No. 1 defensive specialist/libero in the state of Florida, per PrepDig.com. She was a national finalist for Libero of the Year in 2023.

Houston ended the 2025 regular season with a 9-20 record.

Purdue in great shape at DS/libero

Losing a talented freshman to the transfer portal isn’t a great feeling, but Purdue is in really good shape at the libero spot moving forward. Ryan McAleer just concluded her sophomore season and was an All-Region honorable mention for the 2025 season. She also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors.

McAleer has solidified her spot as Purdue’s top libero, especially after a stellar season. She averaged 3.634 digs and 1.267 assists per set for the Boilermakers this past season. She also developed into one of the top servers on the team, especially late in the year. The sophomore had 21 service aces for the season.

The Boilermakers also have depth at defensive specialist, with both Rachel Williams and Sienna Foster in the back row. Those two have primarily been utilized as serving specialists, but have also improved as defensive players in coach Dave Shondell’s system.

Purdue prides itself on the defensive end and has plenty of skill, even with Casale’s departure from the program.

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Related stories on Purdue volleyball

3 BOILERS EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Three Purdue volleyball players received All-American honors from the AVCA on Wednesday. The Boilers finished with a 27-7 record and a trip to the Elite Eight. CLICK HERE

SHONDELL INKS CONTRACT EXTENSION: Following Purdue’s loss to Pitt in the Regional Final, coach Dave Shondell revealed that he signed an extension to remain the head coach of the Boilermakers. CLICK HERE

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M volleyball team added redshirt sophomore middle blocker Eliza Sharp to the 2026 roster, head coach Jamie Morrison announced Friday.
 
Sharp joins the Aggies from Boise State, where she had a historic debut campaign for the Broncos being named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year. The middle blocker also garnered All-Mountain West Team honors, as she was only one of five freshmen in the conference to be named in the postseason awards.
 

“It’s hard to win conference awards as a middle blocker and Eliza [Sharp] comes to us as the reigning Freshman of the Year in her conference,” coach Morrison said. “She is an elite athlete as both a blocker and an attacker who will continue the lineage of great middle blockers at Texas A&M. From our first phone call, I knew she would be a great fit for our culture, not just as a player, but as a person who embodies the values of Texas A&M.”
 
The Burlingame, California, native impresses offensively, as she ranked second on her team in kills after tallying 250 on the year, averaging 2.21 per set and hitting at a .323 percent clip. She eclipsed double-digit kills on nine occasions, setting her career high at 15 and hitting that number twice versus Navy and Utah State.
 
On the defensive end she also finished the year second in blocks, stuffing 140 swings in her debut campaign. She set her career high of 11 total blocks versus San Diego State and had another 10-block outing versus Montana.
 
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The journey to a national title lasted 10 years for Metropolitan State University of Denver women’s volleyball head coach Jenny Glenn.

When it came down to the final game of the 2025 season, she knew the team had already accomplished a feat far more remarkable than its first NCAA Division 2 championship: They knew themselves not only as players but as people.

“We really pressed into our identity of who we were off the court and who each individual was, and that was just a turning point,” Glenn said. “In the last three weeks of our season, our team played in such freedom, and we didn’t feel the pressure. … When we did that, you saw a team that was kind of unstoppable.”

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Coming full circle

In August, the team attended a retreat in Grand County and visited the same courts where Glenn, a graduate of Middle Park High School, found her love of volleyball.

“We taught our team about what identity is and who they’re created to be, and we spent most of the season identifying who or what each athlete is, and who they were created to be,” she said.

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The women then traveled to Middle Park High School and West Grand High School to host camps for local students — a full-circle moment for Glenn, she said, and an opportunity to give back to the community that shaped her.

A Granby native, Glenn has been coaching the Roadrunners for the past decade leading up to their first national championship win against nine-time winner Concordia University St. Paul.

She was a three-sport athlete in high school and played volleyball for Middle Park, with her father, Jim Glenn, as head coach. Her father and sisters’ love of volleyball fueled her own, but she also received support from her track coach Paul Quere and her high school PE coaches Cal and Tammy Cherrington, she said.

Her mentors instilled a sense of identity within her — something she wanted her players to cultivate for the 2025 season. At the August retreat, she taught her players about self-discovery and finding their unique role on and off the court.

“This season, each person had a role,” she said. “It really was all of us — all 14 players plus our staff — really operating out of who they were created to be. That was really cool.”

Championship season

In addition to a strong identity, the Roadrunners came out of the season with a strong track record: The team finished with 32 wins, the most in program history. Glenn’s overall winning percentage and conference winning percentage are the best in team history.

“Since I’ve gotten here, we’ve set our sights on the national championship,” Glenn said. “We have always said that our goal is to win a national championship, but we also wanted to do it the right way.”

The team had been working its way up the rankings since Glenn came on as head coach. In 2020, it finished fourth in the final division poll and took the No. 3 spot in 2021 and 2022.

After five years of getting beat out at the Sweet 16 stage, this year was the team’s first time making it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Championship and Glenn’s first time since she played volleyball for Truman State University.

MSU Denver won three of four sets at the Dec. 13 championship match. The winning point of the final game, in which the Roadrunners defeated their opponent 25-21, was scored by junior Megan Hagar, an outside hitter who stepped in after the team’s sole senior player Annika Helf was sidelined by a knee injury in the quarterfinal.

At a press conference after the win, players applauded Hagar’s willingness to fill in for her injured teammate, adding that Glenn’s leadership and dedication to the team were crucial to securing the title.

“I am so deeply proud of her that she just stayed in throughout the entire season, and she got the fruit of that,” teammate Skyler Michael said about Hagar, who was also named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Helf, an all-American player, stayed supportive on the sidelines, cheering on Hagar and the team as they moved on to the semifinals and, eventually, the championship game. She credited Glenn’s unique coaching style as a key factor in the team’s success.

“Lots of coaches are focused on performance, and to have a coach that is focused on making us good human beings and knowing who we are, it’s just amazing,” Helf said at the press conference.

Looking back on the season, Glenn credited her players’ inner work for their outward success. The ability to tell the team’s story on a large scale has been a blessing, and now that the championship is over and won, she said she looks forward to recharging and regrouping before planning for next season.

“The trophy is awesome, but I’m just so proud of who these women are,” she said. … “We’ve already won in knowing who we are.”