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The unlikeliest journey to NCAA volleyball’s final four

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  • Elizabeth MerrillDec 18, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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      Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.

THE DAY KYNDAL STOWERS was told she couldn’t play volleyball anymore, she got in her car, silenced her phone, and drove aimlessly around town.

It was the spring of 2024, and she had endured four concussions over eight months on the volleyball court at Baylor, once in a collision with a teammate and three times from getting hit by the ball. “Why does this keep happening?” she asked herself. She figured she would redshirt her sophomore season and give her brain time to heal.

But near the end of the 2024 spring semester, a team doctor summoned Stowers. She thought it was just another checkup. When she arrived, the doctor, a trainer and a member of the university’s compliance department greeted her. They told her that she was being medically retired, and that her tuition would be paid for but her playing days — at Baylor at least — were finished.

She eventually went home to Denton, Texas, and watched the 2024 Final Four on her parents’ couch.

One year later, on Sunday, Stowers stood on the court at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, celebrating her Texas A&M team’s five-set upset over the No. 1 — and previously undefeated — Cornhuskers in the regional finals. She had 25 kills and then found her mom in the crowd and cried. She rarely does that, Tina Stowers said.

But this is a story about the unlikeliest player on the unlikeliest semifinal team in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, and the moment commanded some emotion. It’s about a sports family supporting her decision to keep playing, and taking the steps necessary to ensure she’s as safe as she can be in an unpredictable arena of high-velocity swings, crashing bodies and flying elbows.

On Thursday, she’ll play for Texas A&M against Pittsburgh in the national semifinals.

“I knew that I wasn’t done,” Stowers said. “How can I be done with something I never got to start?”

THE STOWERS FAMILY knows about the violence of sports. Don Stowers, Kyndal’s dad, played football for New Mexico State in the 1990s, and was invited to the NFL combine. He played in NFL Europe for a year, and before that was a priority undrafted free agent for the Cincinnati Bengals before becoming a preseason cut by the Bengals and Denver Broncos. But he said there’s video of him tackling Emmitt Smith in a preseason game.

He has coached high school football in Texas, and his son, Eli, is a tight end for Vanderbilt. Tina Stowers graduated from Baylor, played beach volleyball for more than a decade, and coached high school and junior college volleyball. She said she never had a concussion in 30-plus years of volleyball, but acknowledges that back then, there were no protocols, and assessments were generally concluded with the term “getting your bell rung.”

But concussions in volleyball aren’t as rare as they might seem. A 2023 study found that volleyball had the highest rate of concussions (4.93 per 10,000 athlete exposures) among limited-contact sports, including softball, swimming/diving and baseball, and a rate higher than men’s basketball, which is considered a high-contact sport. The NCAA has a concussion safety protocol that schools must follow that applies to all sports. It includes immediate removal from a game or practice if a concussion is suspected and continued evaluation by a team physician in the hours and days following the injury.

When Kyndal sustained her first concussion at Baylor during the summer of 2023, before her freshman season, she called her mom. She was annoyed, Tina Stowers said, but otherwise fine. Then came the September game when she dove for a ball and a teammate went airborne and kneed her in the head.

Baylor sat her for 10 days, Tina Stowers said, but about a week after she returned, she looked tired. After an early October game, Tina and Don spoke to the trainers.

“So they were like, ‘You know what? We’re just going to take you out of the gym for a little bit longer,'” Tina Stowers said. “And then she was shagging balls and she got hit by [a serve] probably going 70 mph. Hit her right in the back of the head.”

When Stowers played, she dominated. During her freshman season, she had double-digit kills in 12 of the 14 matches she played. She had 29 kills and 16 digs against SMU; she hit above .450 in three matches and was once named Big 12 offensive player of the week.

But she never played after that Oct. 6 game against Kansas State.

During a spring practice in February 2024, she got hit by a shanked ball. She was diagnosed with her fourth concussion.

Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said the decision to medically retire her was difficult for him and the Stowers family to take.

“Both of us were frustrated about not being able to navigate forward or at least just wait longer and let it work itself out,” he said.

BACK HOME IN Denton, Stowers lifted weights and worked on her speed and explosiveness alongside football players. She served and swatted at volleyballs alone in her club gym. She did Fellowship of Christian Athletes camps, binge-watched some TV series and dog-sat to earn money. Her symptoms waned.

One of the biggest perks of being off for an entire autumn was that she was finally able to see her brother play football for Vanderbilt.

“On the weekends, I was going to all of his games,” she said, “which was really cool because I’ve never been able to do that ever because we’ve both been playing at the same time.”

Her mom lovingly called her “college dropout” during her stay back home.

During the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament, she entered the transfer portal. She wasn’t sure what the market would hold for a 19-year-old outside hitter with an extensive concussion history. She was at church one day when an onslaught of calls and texts hit her phone. It was so intrusive that she had to activate the “Do Not Disturb” feature.

Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison was among the many reaching out. The Aggies were coming off a 21-8 season that ended with a five-set loss to Wisconsin in the regional semifinals. They were returning a talented roster, but there was room for more. Soon, Stowers visited College Station. Her brother started his football career there before transferring to New Mexico State and then Vanderbilt, so she was familiar with some of the faces and the athletic department’s culture.

“But obviously meeting the volleyball staff and seeing what they were about in their program meant a lot to me,” she said. “So, yeah, fell in love with it and then committed two days later.”

MORRISON SAID HE had two priorities when Stowers arrived. He wanted to give her back the thing she loved — the ability to play volleyball. He said he was also committed to keeping her safe.

Stowers wasn’t just working out during her time away from volleyball. She underwent concussion rehabilitation at the Andrews Institute in Plano, Texas, and received VOMS (Vestibular Ocular Motor Screening), which is a clinical assessment tool.

“When I moved home, I saw a ton of doctors in Dallas,” Stowers said, “a lot of very well-known neuropsychologists. Neurologists. Even some, like, general people, across every board that I could think of because I didn’t want to put myself at risk.

“I mean, my dad played football … my brother is about to go into the NFL. The world of concussions is not foreign to me, and I know obviously what that can lead to. So I didn’t want to put myself at risk by any means. Part of it was like, I want to get all of this evidence that I’m fine to continue playing, but I also want to make sure I’m good.”

She said that eventually, the lingering concussion symptoms she’d experienced at Baylor were gone, and she was cleared to continue playing volleyball by her personal doctors.

“I would never have put my daughter back out on a court if I thought it was not safe for her,” Tina Stowers said. “We definitely got plenty of clearance from a lot of people that know better than I do. And then it just kind of worked out.”

Morrison said A&M’s medical staff pored through all of her medical records, which accounted for about 60 hours of work. One of the conditions he set for Stowers to play was that she wore a Q-Collar, a horseshoe-shaped safety device that is worn around the neck and has been cleared by the FDA.

Dr. Julian Bailes, a renowned neurosurgeon and concussions expert who was part of the research and development of the Q-Collar, said the device has a spring inside that compresses the jugular.

“And what that does,” he said, “it puts a little more blood in the cranium, which reduces the ability of the brain to move or slosh around. …

“If you get hit on the head by any mechanism, if the brain doesn’t move, it doesn’t get injured. It’s the movement of the brain that creates brain injury, whether it’s concussion or, you know, major injury in a car accident or a fall, something like that.”

Though the device, which has become common in the NFL, has its skeptics, most everyone agrees that more research on concussion prevention needs to be done.

Stowers said she has worn the Q-Collar all season, and has been hit in the head occasionally. That’s going to happen to everyone, she said. But she hasn’t sustained another concussion, and doesn’t worry about getting hit in the head.

“I’ve been perfectly fine,” she said.

IT HAS BEEN a busy December for the Stowers family. Eli won the John Mackey Award, which is given to the nation’s top tight end, and the William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors the top scholar-athlete.

The family has jet-setted to New York and Las Vegas for Eli’s awards, then watched Kyndal play in the postseason in between. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what time zone they’re in — or where they are.

Texas A&M came back from two games down last weekend to knock off No. 2-seeded Louisville, then had the gumption to cancel the plans of thousands of Nebraskans who were supposed to flock three hours south to see their undefeated team hoist the trophy.

“Zero surprise to me what she’s doing,” said Baylor’s McGuyre, who has known Stowers since she was in junior high. “I’m really excited for her. My wife was the first to tell her, ‘Hey, if you don’t feel like you’re done playing, go play. You’ll flourish.’

“We were cheering super, super loud in that Nebraska match. Seeing her do what she did just kind of is another sucker punch to the gut a little bit, like, ‘Oh, what if?’ But I think both families still believe there’s a purpose and plan in this life. … I believe in over-comers. I wouldn’t be [talking] if I didn’t believe she’s something special.”

The Stowers family will be there Thursday to watch Kyndal try to do what seemed impossible 12 months ago. And if the Aggies beat Pitt, Eli hopes to make it to Sunday’s championship game.

On Tuesday, Kyndal, who was scrambling to pack for Kansas City, paused for a moment to reflect on the Aggies’ postseason run. She felt as if she fit in seamlessly when she arrived in College Station, that she was around like-minded teammates with the perfect measure of confidence and goofiness.

Nobody has time to worry about the heaviness of the moment.

“[Last year] I was sitting at home on my couch watching all these games being played,” she said.

“I believe that that’s where the Lord had me. And I was like, ‘This is a really cool story. God, if you want me to come out of this, how dope would that be?’ I mean, being medically retired, and now we’re here? It’s surreal.”



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Florida’s Jaela Auguste transfers to Wisconsin volleyball

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December 21, 2025

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The University of Wisconsin volleyball team made its first splash of the transfer cycle Saturday, just two days after its season came to an end in the Final Four.

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Sheffield transitions to offseason while appreciating latest Wisconsin volleyball campaign



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Is women’s volleyball the SEC’s next big sport? How Kentucky, Texas A&M broke through

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December 21, 2025

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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.

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.





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Brian Hosfeld Named New Mexico Volleyball Head Coach – New Mexico Lobos

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December 21, 2025

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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. 

VB Coach Resume (1).jpgAfter 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.



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The 2025 All West Valley Preps girls volleyball team

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December 21, 2025

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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.

Sunrise Mountain girls volleyball,


Liberty girls volleyball,


O’Connor girls volleyball,


Addison Wiemann,


Lauren Forelli,


Kate Federico,


Leah Orth





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NCAA volleyball tournament final: Keys to Kentucky-Texas A&M

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December 21, 2025

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  • Elizabeth Merrill

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    Elizabeth Merrill

    ESPN Senior Writer

      Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.

  • Charlotte Gibson

Dec 21, 2025, 07:14 AM ET

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.”



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

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December 21, 2025

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YOU’RE WATCHING. WLWT NEWS 5 LEADING THE WAY, HONORING THE LIFE OF A VOLLEYBALL PLAYER GONE TOO SOON. TODAY THERE WAS A VOLLEYBALL BENEFIT FOR DYLAN STRACHAN. BACK IN OCTOBER, DYLAN DIED AFTER BEING HIT BY A CAR WHILE RIDING HIS BIKE. TODAY, DOZENS OF PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY GATHERING TOGETHER AT THE LOVELAND SAND VOLLEYBALL COURTS IN HIS HONOR. FAMILY MEMBERS WE SPOKE WITH SAY DYLAN WOULD HAVE LOVED THE EVENT. REALISTICALLY, I’D SAY HE’D PROBABLY CRY. HE’D BE REALLY SURPRISED. HE’D BE SURPRISED, BUT HE WOULD CRY. HE DIDN’T THINK HE FIT IN. AND ALL THESE KIDS ARE HERE TO SUPPORT HIM. SO IT’S REALLY SURPRISING. HE WOULD BE LIKE, I’M NOT GOING IN THERE, BRO. YEAH, BUT HE WOULD DEFINITELY BE PLAYING RIGHT NOW. WELL, ALL THE PROCEEDS FROM TODAY’S EVENTS ARE GOING TOWARDS A SCHOLARSHIP IN HIS HONOR. AND IF YOU’D L

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

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Updated: 10:18 AM EST Dec 21, 2025

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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.

LOVELAND, Ohio —

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.



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