Advertise on podcast: Ladyjack Volleyball 2026 Season Diary

As essential a role off-the-court as we have at SFA Volleyball is the work done by Sports Information Director (SID) Amanda Paver. In this extended conversation you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what Media Relations / SID's staff do all during the year for college athletics programs. Often spread very thin and working odd hours in odd conditions, SID's can make or break the image of a team among the media. Prior to the interview with Amanda, I stroll a bit down memory lane listing others who did her job prior to her arrival that had a postive impact on me as a broadcaster. Of course, in reality, there are many more I've interesected with than those listed here and this interview will hopefully help champion them all.

In SFA's next-to-last home match of the season against McNeese, SFA was able to close out a 3-2 win over the Cowgirls. The match was intense, emotional and featured both a ton of positives and a lot of frustrations as well. In this diary entry, I brain dump and get out those frustrations while also shining plenty of light on SFA's great net defense, stellar play by its outsider hitters, strong offense at the end of sets 3 and 5 and career high efforts from Cambry Saul and Molly Cravens. In a theraputic entry, let's talk about last night against McNeese.

Sophomore Brinkley Reeves went from star senior outside hitter at San Marcos High School & at her club in 2024 to a being a freshman at SFA last year and not seeing court time. This year, Reeves emerged as a strong serving option and due to her strong defensive skills has recently earned the position as the team's libero. In this chat, we talk about all of those adjustments and the emotions that go with them. Recorded at the team hotel in Beaumont, Texas on October 30, 2026.

In this entry we recap the 'Jacks home and away victories over travel partner Lamar and focus on the stellar net defense during the week, the steady setting output featuring Izzy Orton, and the increased offensive efficiency by right side Molly Cravens. With four conference matches remaining, SFA finds themselves in a four-way tie for first in the SLC standings at 11-2. Recorded on November 2, 2026.

Senior MB Kyanna Creecy has entered the Top 10 career blocks list at SFA. This entry is a tribute to her accomplishments as I run-down my memory of the 7 on the list that I know personally. This entry serves as a history of some of the greatest middle blockers to come to Stephen F. Austin.

One of the essential roles on the support staff for SFA Volleyball is that of team trainer Kaylee Wood. Kaylee is in her 5th year working with SFA Volleyball and takes us through education and experiences required to do her job, relationship building, daily schedules and activities - both on practice and match days. Kaylee also discusses the AT role in establishing and carrying out concussion and trauma protocols. Recorded on Friday, October 16, 2026 at the team hotel (Spring Hill Suites) in Corpus Christi, TX.

UTRGV Head Volleyball Coach Todd Lowery joins in on a diary entry focused on mixing recruiting for American-born players as well as integrating players from around the world on his NCAA Divsion 1 roster. We talk about establishing connections, being intentional about mixing cultures and the impacts of having a heterogenous roster in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. Recorded in the UTRGV Volleyball film room in the UTRGV Fieldhouse on October 14, 2026.

In the next few matches, Caroline Kahle will achieve 1000 career digs and fellow senior Kyanna Creecy will enter the Top 10 Blocks List All-Time at SFA. Creecy is already established on the Top 10 All-Time career lists in blocks per set and attack percentage. We go over all the upcoming milestones in this diary entry recorded outside on the UTRGV campus before the 'Jacks/Vaqueros match on October 15, 2026.

In our weekly recap, we revisit the 'Jacks matches against UIW and HCU at home. The production from the left side of Koonsen and Kahle stays strong and the carousel at libero continues with Brinkley Reeves being the latest Ladyjack to start at that position. It was one up (HCU) and one down (UIW) in the standings and we cover all the angles of the two matches before SFA travels south for a good test against UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the road.

Stephen F. Austin AD Michael McBroom checks in on Entry 16 and we discuss the modern landscape of volleyball's place in athletic programs, bridging the roles between the academic & athletic sides of the university and how to meet current challenges to advance the SFA Volleyball program plus more. Recorded in the Rusk Building on the SFA campus on October 5, 2026.

Continuing our entries that bring in people from the volleyball world outside of SFA, this entry is a chat with Tayler Gray, Head Volleyball Coach at McNeese. Earlier in the season (Entry 6), we spoke with Tayler's mother, Brenda, the 42 year head coach at Sam Houston where Tayler played both volleyball and softball. In this entry we talk about player and coach personalities, embracing new communities, making adjustments while coaching, and building relationships with administrators and staff members as well as a lot more. Recorded in the Doland Fieldhouse on the McNeese State University campus on October 1, 2026.

Stephen F. Austin got two road wins at McNeese and Nicholls last week on a rainy road trip to Louisiana. Jordan Henderson got named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Listen in as we recap the two road wins and discuss the advances of the offense and the search for consistency on defense. SFA is now 4-0 in Southland play after the two W's last week. October 5, 2026.

Junior Right Side Hitter Lara (read: La-duh) Gilardi (jee-lar-jee) grew up in Brazil and began playing volleyball seriously only as a middle-aged teen. This coversation discusses the cultural and technical differences of volleyball training in Brazil versus the United States. We discuss the influence of volleyball on young athletes in both geographies and also get into the training differences in terms of technique and weight work as well as other topics that differ across countries. Recorded in Shelton Gym on September 30, 2026.

SFA got their first two 2026 Southland Conference wins last week by defeating SLU and LSU-New Orleans in straight sets. Jordan Henderson etched her name in the record books hitting .917 against the Lions and Kat Holtman had a dominating third set against the Privateers. We review these and other great performances from last week as we get ready for the first Southland road trip of the year this week to McNeese and Nicholls.

This diary entry reminds - or introduces you, as the case may be, to RPI - a ranking system using team schedules, opponent schedules and other factors to sort through all 348 NCAA Division 1 programs. The RPI isn't officially released until October, but a look into how these RPI's project lends some support to the thought that we may experience a "slightly down" year for Southland Volleyball. We take a look at what that might mean for a historically strong program like SFA.