The volleyball season begins in earnest on Tuesday and with it comes a two-month journey to reach the Yakima Valley SunDome in November. Here are five players and three teams to keep an eye for 2026.
Lilly Worthen, Black Hills
The Wolves won their division at a summer league tournament in Centralia and had a mix of varsity players participating. One of them was Worthen, a senior hitter that was a problem for the Evergreen Conference last season.
She was one of several area players with 200-plus kills while also being stout in serve receive with 137 digs. Worthen also notched triple digit assists, 49 aces and 28 blocks on the year.
The Wolves graduated four seniors coming off a second place league finish and an 0-2 showing in the Class 2A District 4 tournament.
Ryelin Wiedenmann, Morton
One of two seniors for the Huskies this fall, Wiedenmann enters her final season playing in Class 1B after being a premier hitter in 2B. She was a second team all-league pick after season stats of 175 kills, 90 digs and despite being under 6-foot, recording 17 blocks.
Wiedenmann shined in the playoffs with a 17-kill night to put MWP into the district tournament and in their lone playoff game, she notched 15 kills, 14 digs and three blocks. Morton brings back several contributors for its first season down a classification.
Karli Phelps, Pe Ell
This fall marks the final season for Phelps in a Trojans uniform and she’ll try to lead them to their second state tournament appearance in three years. It was a different type of role she filled in last fall, being a setter full-time and being one of the best with 337 assists.
Phelps remained an all-rotation player for Pe Ell with 94 digs, 39 blocks and registered 71 kills. She was also a first team all-CVL selection and tallied 20 assists in the Trojans’ final district tournament contest.
Kendyl Guenther, Centralia
For a Tigers team that lacked in size, Guenther was a welcome addition midway through last season and gave them a middle hitter to rely on. She was an all-league honorable mention pick and played in all rotations.
In Centralia’s district pigtail five-set loss, she finished with eight digs, six kills, four aces and three blocks. The Tigers graduated six seniors and could look to Guenther to provide additional leadership in her final prep season.
Alyssa Carroll, Adna
After being on the bench her first two seasons for the Pirates, Carroll stepped into the lineup as an outside hitter and gave them another presence at the net. She was an all-C2BL honorable mention pick and still found a way to put Adna into the district tournament.
In its tiebreaker over MWP, Carroll led with 10 kills and also recorded nine digs and five blocks. Much of Adna’s roster is back this fall with Carroll and a bounty of other seniors expected to lead the program this season.
Onalaska
This fall will be the final season of a four-year buildup for the Loggers behind the senior core of Emalie Jacoby, Braelyn Babb and Sommer Hammer plus the class behind them that includes Leah Hamilton, Faith Hammer and Capri McGraw. Onalaska captured its first C2BL title in 18 years, but fell short of a district title and placing at state.
Jacoby put up a staggering 512 kills while Babb registered another eye-popping number of 703 assists. Those two plus McGraw and the Hammer’s were all-league picks last season.
Of the four regular season losses, all of them were to state tournament programs and the Loggers lost just six sets in league play. Susan Gordon is back at the helm and they could be one of the favorites in Class 2B this season.
Tumwater
The T-Birds were the lone team to leave Yakima with a trophy, placing fifth in Class 2A behind a comeback versus Archbishop Murphy in the placement contest. It was the first piece of hardware for the program since winning the state title in 2016.
Several stalwarts from last year are gone, including league MVP Tove Hugus and first team all-state middle Chloe Henderson. What Tumwater brings back is senior outside hitter Kay Kay Malroy, a second team all-league honoree, and junior Corinne Sadlemyer or sophomore Abbey Kummer could slide into the middle.
Toledo
It’s a new era for the Riverhawks with Whitney Nailon taking over as head coach. She was previously at R.A. Long and inherits a group that brings back five all-league selections, led by the setter-hitter duo of Sidney Kruger and Ellie Fallon.
Fallon was one of the top hitters in SW Washington and an all-state honoree by the coaches association. She amassed 509 kills and added 120 aces plus 105 digs to be a first team all-league selection. Defensive specialists Brenna Carver and Lexi Butterworth are expected back in the mix as is middle hitter Taysia Miller and outside hitter Lexi Young.
Toledo fought through a grueling league slate and ended up fourth despite starting the year 10-0. All three of their league losses in the regular season came in five sets.
