LONGVIEW, Texas – Volleyball season is right around the corner.
The LeTourneau volleyball team sets its sights on the 2026 season, entering its second season in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The YellowJackets will open the season at the UMHB Invitational, where they will face Mary Hardin-Baylor (Sept. 4).
Fifth-year head coach Alison Williams will look to build on her 2025 campaign, alongside first-year assistant Paige Vander Goot, which ended with a Division III era record 19 wins, to go along with a 9-7 record in conference play and an exit in the SCAC quarterfinals.
"We want our players to feel safe to be themselves, take chances, and play free," Williams noted regarding her team. "We had a successful season last year, but there's still so much room for excellence in our program and so we're pushing onwards and upwards every day."
THE ROSTER
LeTourneau will be anchored by their senior class in Nora Lockhart, Maddy Hirneise, and Kylee Marksberry.
Lockhart, a second-team All-SCAC performer from a year ago, is coming off a season where she hit .322 on 167 kills to go along with 81 blocks. Lockhart has been an all-conference selection for all three of her seasons as a YellowJacket.
Hirneise returns for her senior year after a stellar 2025 season where she ranked fifth in the SCAC in digs, averaging 5.00 per set, making 475 total digs. Former All-Conference player in the ASC, Marksberry returns after missing the majority of the 2025 season due to injury.
The junior class is made up of Ashlyn Walther, Logan Lear, Elyse McKinney, and Rebekah Dragoo. Walther led the YellowJackets with 84 blocks a season ago, which was also second in the SCAC. Lear contributed 127 kills and 21 aces, and McKinney recorded 226 digs in 92 sets, while also serving 21 aces. Dragoo, a transfer from Panola College, will make her debut with LeTourneau coming off a season where she garnered 303 digs as a sophomore.
Emily Mullin leads the sophomore class after a stellar freshman season where she led the YellowJackets in assists with 4.61 per set for a total of 502. She also led the team in aces, was second in digs, and recorded the first triple-double in LeTourneau's 25-point era.
Hailee Perry also contributed a year ago, as she produced 3.91 assists per set and 1.79 digs per set. Aidyn Love and Kassidy Meyer will step into bigger roles this season as they round out the sophomore class.
The freshman recruiting class is made up of Sia Caballero, Taylor Williams, Madi Love, Gabby Ovalle, Claire Bezanilla, and Elizabeth Corbitt.
"We have six freshmen and one transfer, so over a third of our team is new this fall," Williams added. "I expect our newcomers to push the returners for playing time and I think this group is going to do great things for LeTourneau volleyball in their time here."
SCAC OUTLOOK
LeTourneau was picked to finish fifth in the SCAC preseason poll and third in the Blue Division.
St. Thomas topped the preseason poll with seven first-place votes, and 96 points. Reigning SCAC champions, Colorado College was picked second, receiving two first-place votes, while Hendrix was picked third and also picked up a first-place vote. Hendrix (82 points) and Austin College (70 points) were selected as the top two schools in the Blue Division.
THE SCHEDULE
The regular season is slated to begin Sept. 4 with the UMHB Invitational, where the YellowJackets will take on the host, Mary Hardin-Baylor. LeTourneau will play two more matches the following day against Alverno and Carroll.
The home opener will be a rematch against Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sept. 9. The match is one of six LeTourneau will host inside Solheim Arena in the regular season – all home matches are free to attend. All home and SCAC matches will be streamed on FloCollege.
The Jackets will head east to Jackson, Miss., where they will take on Belhaven and Oglethorpe (Sept. 11) in the Belhaven Invitational. LeTourneau will stay in Jackson the following day to compete in the Millsaps Invitational against Millsaps and Huntingdon.
The next challenge will come at the ETBU Tiger Invite, where the Jackets will face Southwestern (Sept. 18) before playing McMurry and East Texas Baptist (Sept. 19).
LeTourneau's home SCAC matches will come against Centenary (Sept. 22), Austin College (Oct. 11), Hendrix (Oct. 16), and Ozarks (Oct. 17).
The regular season concludes on Nov. 7, in Shreveport, La., against Centenary.
LeTourneau will host the SCAC Tournament in Solheim Arena Nov. 13-14, with six teams qualifying. The teams with the best conference record in the Blue Division and the Gold Division will receive byes into the tournament semifinals. The remaining four spots will be determined by conference record, regardless of division.
FOLLOW THE YELLOWJACKETS
Be sure to follow LeTourneau athletics all season long on letuathletics.com and social media at Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news, and other information.
