***2026 ISU Volleyball Thread***
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
Here are the preseason B12 and national polls. ISU is #9 in the B12 which I think is way low if everyone is healthy:
big12sports.com
www.avca.org
2025 Big 12 Volleyball Preseason Poll & Awards Released
BYU was announced as the favorite in the 2025 Big 12 volleyball preseason poll, while Claire Little Chambers (Preseason Player of the Year) and Suli Davis (Preseason Freshman of the Year) swept the Conference’s preseason honors for the Cougars.
big12sports.com
Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball
See what college and high school teams are ranked in the latest AVCA Coaches Polls all season long.
www.avca.org
I just finished watching the first section of the very first Big 12 Volleyball Media days. They discussed the pre-season poll and players on Big 12 team at first, then talked to coaches and a player from each team. (Iowa State, with CJL and Maya are the very last school to be interviewed on the first day, in case you are interested. It is also on YouTube.)
CJL mentioned how excited the team was to start the season, especially how tough the season was last year. I’m not sure the pre-season rankings took into consideration a healthy ISU team, but maybe with the uncertainty of Nayeli being able to play and being a focus for the other teams, it hindered the viewpoint of ISU as a whole. Plus, there are a few relatively new teams yet to the conference, so maybe ISU consistently placing in the top 4-5 every year doesn’t register with them. They did place Maya on the Big 12 preseason team, which was good, but I will never understand the conference always overlooking Morgan Brandt.
I was surprised on how high Kansas is ranked. Yes, they have a new coach that has an excellent resume, but they basically have a new team as well and wasn’t able to get transfers due to the timing of the hire, although they have international players that were able to join the team late.
K-State is ranked higher by one than ISU, but they are returning everyone, besides Aliyah Carter, and they had zero players transfer out.
Interesting media day. Glad they have it, which is a step in the right direction, but it would be better when they can all go and meet up like they do for football and the basketball teams. Look forward to watching the second half tomorrow.
CJL mentioned how excited the team was to start the season, especially how tough the season was last year. I’m not sure the pre-season rankings took into consideration a healthy ISU team, but maybe with the uncertainty of Nayeli being able to play and being a focus for the other teams, it hindered the viewpoint of ISU as a whole. Plus, there are a few relatively new teams yet to the conference, so maybe ISU consistently placing in the top 4-5 every year doesn’t register with them. They did place Maya on the Big 12 preseason team, which was good, but I will never understand the conference always overlooking Morgan Brandt.
I was surprised on how high Kansas is ranked. Yes, they have a new coach that has an excellent resume, but they basically have a new team as well and wasn’t able to get transfers due to the timing of the hire, although they have international players that were able to join the team late.
K-State is ranked higher by one than ISU, but they are returning everyone, besides Aliyah Carter, and they had zero players transfer out.
Interesting media day. Glad they have it, which is a step in the right direction, but it would be better when they can all go and meet up like they do for football and the basketball teams. Look forward to watching the second half tomorrow.
It was kind of disappointing that there was no mention of Gonzalez and her health status by the 3 gals conducting the interviews nor by CJL.
And I agree that Brandt’s omission from all conference teams has been questionable. She is arguably ISU’s best all round setter since Alison Landwehr.
There was a picture of Gonzalez practicing on a volleyball post ~ which is a good sign. She has a major brace on her leg and I'm assuming she may not be 100% yet. Hoping she is close to at least play conference games.
I went to the scrimmage last week and the scrimmage this morning. I took a few notes and will see how it holds up for the season.
From last week:
The transfers look really good. Especially Abbi. The offense seemed to flow a bit smoother when she was setting.
The freshmen looked great
Nayeli played all back row, never saw front row. She may still be recovering.
A lot more back row attacks in addition to the front row, it added to the offense.
There are some interesting rotations that were tried
Serving appeared to be a possible weak spot
RVG stayed as primary Libaro on the “A” team the entire team
Part way through Paula was swapped for Annaliesa
Some thoughts from today:
Lily was among a few not suited up, which makes me wonder if injury or resting
Set 2 was a blow out by ISU
Good to see the grit coming back in set 3 for the overall victory
Serving was much better
ISU may work better as a 6-2 vs a 5-1. With the new setter and the wealth of hitters… it may be something to look at
RVG is good as Libero, but after her hitting last year it is hard to move her, but again wealth of hitters
Looking forward to a great season
Some images from exhibition match against Drake
https://winterinkphotography.smugmug.com/VB/20250823Drake
https://winterinkphotography.smugmug.com/VB/20250823Drake
Season opens, 2:15 PM on ESPN+ vs Bucknell
Tough to watch during the work day, hoping for some good highlights afterwards.
Tough to watch during the work day, hoping for some good highlights afterwards.
Watching the replay. Can tell the announcers haven’t done VB before. Slam instead of a kill… oh my. Second set made the offense look great.
We haven’t played anybody.
And not sure UNI is a measuring stick, as they have played Arizona St, SMU, and Washington without winning a single game, going 0-3 against all three.
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I will say that South Alabama was a tougher team than one may expect; went four sets with Baylor and one set was even 28-30 Baylor. But yes, looking forward to Iowa State battling a really good team, which may not even be until Illinois, although they struggled their first couple of matches. It may even be Iowa, they have only lost a couple of sets so far. Just don't know a lot about them because of so many transfers. I will try to watch before the matchup.
One good thing ~ 5-0 always looks good without losing a set to any of the teams that we have played.
One good thing ~ 5-0 always looks good without losing a set to any of the teams that we have played.
UNI at CF tomorrow is going to be a challenge. UNI beat South Dakota State who has beat Illinois and Ole Miss. And they will have a real good turnout to support them. Good test for ISU IMO.
Has anyone heard anything about a timetable for Gonzalez’s return? I am aware of the severity of her injury and figured it would take a full year for her return to action. There was no mention of her that I saw from Media Day and CJL has not been on the initial two Coaches Shows.
