Cam Newton Memorial Week
Previewing the October matches against Auburn and Florida
Today on Point Texas, we’re previewing Cam Newton Memorial Week! Did Cam do anything of note recently? Not unless you’re terminally heartbroken about the Mouse laying him and several of his colleagues at ESPN off in favor of backing up a Brinks truck in front of the Pat McAfee estate.
No, no. We instead dedicate this week to the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner in acknowledgement of the two Division 1 college football programs Cam played for during his career. Newton was the backup to Tim Tebow at the University of Florida in 2007 before being arrested for stealing a fellow student’s laptop (and allegedly throwing it out his dorm room window in an attempt to hide evidence from the cops) and transferring away from Gainesville in order to avoid likely expulsion from the school. Following a juco stint, Newton famously signed with the Auburn Tigers where he won both the Heisman Trophy and the national championship over Oregon. That decision to go to Auburn was nothing if not controversial thanks in no small part to the revelation that Cam’s father, Cecil, had told Mississippi State that it would take upwards of $100,000 to secure his son’s commitment to the school.
Coming off the rivalry matches on the road with Arkansas and Oklahoma, Texas will return home to Gregory Gym to face the Tigers on October 16th and the Gators two days later. It’ll be up to Texas to perform in an obvious letdown spot, though the perceived strength (or lack thereof) of Arkansas and Oklahoma’s teams should make that an easier task than we’d expect to see on the baseball, softball, or football fields. So pour one out for the broadcast career of the man who perfected the art of schizo-posting on social media and enjoy our preview!
Auburn Tigers
Match Date: October 16, 2026
Match Location: Gregory Gymnasium - Austin, TX
2025 Record: 17-11 (7-8, SEC)
NCAA Tournament: Failed to qualify
Postseason Rank: Unranked
Result v Texas: L, 2-3 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 9-15)
The Tigers took Texas to the brink of a reverse sweep last November on senior day, the third in a string of four losses they suffered to close out the regular season. It was by far the most competitive match the Tigers put up against a ranked opponent in 2025, getting swept by Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Louisville while also falling in four sets to Florida, Missouri, and Kentucky. Auburn struggled a bit with their setting situation – no setter on the roster put up a pGIS of more than 1.3 on the year, well below the mark I tend to use to denote a player as a “key” returner, loss, or transfer portal addition. How head coach Brent Crouch and his staff address that issue will likely drive the ceiling on The Plains this fall.
Key Losses
OH Liz Markovska (pGIS 6.6)
L Alexis Dacosta (pGIS 5.8)
OH Bel Zimmerman (pGIS 3.7)
Key Returners
OH Lauren Dreves (pGIS 7.6)
MB Kate Mansfield (pGIS 5.5)
MB Grace Havlicek (pGIS 3.5)
Key Additions
L Symone Sims (pGIS 7.1, #1 nationally at her position) from Kansas State
OH Anastasija Ivkovic (pGIS 1.3) from UCLA
The Tigers lost significant production both offensively and on the back row. Had they played more RPI Top 50 opponents and qualified for our season-long rankings, Liz Markovska and Alexis Dacosta would have slotted in around 38th and 10th nationally at their positions, respectively. When paired with the graduation of Bel Zimmerman, Auburn will need to replace two critical pin hitters this fall.
Thankfully, some stability remains on the outside, as team MVP Lauren Dreves is back for another round. The middle blocker position is also solid, with Kate Mansfield and Grace Havlicek providing known (though perhaps not flashy) quantities. As noted above, the biggest issue for the offense will be figuring out the setter position; last season’s team ran a 6-2 with Shanelle Puetz and Kalei Edson as the quarterbacks, but only Puetz remains following Edson’s transfer to Houston.
Auburn did land an outstanding replacement to wear the libero uniform: former K-State Wildcat Symone Sims makes her way from the Little Apple to play for the Tigers this fall following a year where our pGIS metric deemed her the best libero in the country. Despite being a newcomer, Sims will provide an immense amount of confidence for fans and the staff immediately. Brent Crouch will also expect UCLA transfer Anastasija Ivkovic to compete with sophomore Greer Chambless and incoming freshman Reese Shugart for the open pin-hitting spots.
I expect Auburn to be much improved this year and make a push into the NCAA tournament in December. Puetz taking over at setter and ideally forcing Auburn into a 5-1 will improve the offense’s consistency in spite of the loss of production from last season on the pins. While they’re still a tier or two behind the SEC front-runners, they will pose a legitimate challenge for Texas that should not be taken too lightly. Being at home will be helpful for the Horns, especially as the conference championship race really starts heating up in mid-October.
Florida Gators
Match Date: October 18, 2026
Match Location: Gregory Gymnasium - Austin, TX
2025 Record: 16-12 (9-6, SEC)
NCAA Tournament: Unseeded, lost to #2 SMU in Second Round
Postseason Rank: Unranked
Result v Texas: L, 1-3 (31-29, 18-25, 19-25, 19-25)
2025 was a roller coaster in Gainesville. The Gators found ways to upset then-#3 Pitt during the AVCA First Serve as well as take matches off of ranked opponents in Baylor, Mizzou, and Tennessee while pushing Kentucky to the brink on the road. Florida also discovered exciting ways to drop games they should have, taking Ls against LSU, Mississippi State, and South Carolina. To top it off, the transfer portal was a mixed bag for the orange and blue.
Key Losses
MB Jaela Auguste (pGIS 6.3, #20)
S Alexis Stucky (pGIS 6.0, #18)
Key Returners
MB Alec Rothe (pGIS 6.0, #26)
OH Kira Hutson (pGIS 4.3, #80)
OH Jordyn Byrd (pGIS 4.0, #90)
L Lily Hayes (pGIS 3.7, #39)
OH Aniya Madkin (pGIS 2.7, #129)
Key Additions
MB Brooklyn Briscoe (pGIS 4.2, #67) from UCLA
OPP Logan King (pGIS 5.2) from Long Beach State
On the outgoing side, the transfer portal was absolutely unkind to Florida. Texas fans who closely followed along will be more than familiar with the transfers of Jaela Auguste and Alexis Stucky to Wisconsin and Penn State, respectively. (Both were players a vocal contingent of the fanbase wanted in Austin to potentially reinforce the MB and S rooms.) Notably, Auguste and Stucky represent the top two Gators in 2025 per pGIS. Both also made the All-SEC teams last season with Auguste on the First Team and Stucky on the Second.
On the positive side, Florida was generally able to hold together the core of [gestures vaguely] everything else that surrounded Auguste and Stucky. Former Longhorn Jordyn Byrd (Second Team All-SEC in 2025) flashed a number of times for the Gators, especially early in the year. If she’s able to find some consistency, she’ll be a much more looming threat for every team Florida plays. Alec Rothe didn’t get the same headlines or attention that Auguste got, but she was arguably a more productive player when the lights were brightest – she produced a pGIS of 6.0 in matches against quality opponents while Auguste managed a 5.7. Lily Hayes found herself on the All-Freshman Team for the SEC last season and is poised to take a huge step forward in her sophomore campaign.
Replacing Auguste will be the first order of business this season, and second-year head coach Ryan Theis will look to do so with UCLA transfer MB Brooklyn Briscoe. Fifth-year senior Amaya Thomas will challenge Briscoe for that playing time as well. Long Beach State transfer Logan King will challenge Milica Vidacic on the right pin despite Vidacic being named to the All-Freshman Team last season (a recognition pGIS does not agree with, as she posted only a 1.3 for the year). The battle to replace Stucky will deliver the most intrigue around the program heading into the fall, however – Taylor Parks was the backup setter last season, appearing in 62 of Florida’s 108 sets, but two transfer options in Bri Denney (from Baylor) and Olivia Klimis (from Houston) will also contend for the quarterback spot.
Losing the two truly elite players from last season is a painful pill to swallow. With much of the rest of the core otherwise returning, Florida will need someone to take that next step if they want to maintain (much less improve on) their performance from last season. How the setter situation resolves in Gainesville will determine Florida’s ceiling this fall. If the battle rages into the season, it could end up being a long one for the Gators. But if one of Parks, Denney, and Klimis can take the reins in fall camp, they’ll have the supporting cast to establish a reliable if unspectacular offense. Florida is never a school to take lightly on the Taraflex, but they’ll also provide a good mid-pack conference match for Texas.
Full 2026 Schedule Release
While it brought very little new information for our readers, it is worth noting that Texas officially announced the 2026 schedule on social media yesterday. The twelve day gap between the non-conference finale at Moody against Wisconsin and the SEC opener in Knoxville versus Tennessee remains, as expected.
The most intriguing development is the addition of two exhibition matches against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Rice Owls on August 10th and 14th, respectively. Both matches will take place at Gregory Gym (open to the public, I hope).
Seeing as the matches are merely exhibitions, we won’t be going back and previewing those teams here at Point Texas. With that said, they are two strong additions to the calendar; Minnesota was the #4 seed and Rice the #7 in Pitt’s region of December’s NCAA tournament.
So there you have it. Cam Newton Memorial Week looks like it’ll be a sneaky challenge for Texas coming off of the back-to-back rivalry showdowns a week prior. Dominant matches for the Longhorns at this stage of the season would be extremely heartening, though dropping a set or two would be far from the end of the world. In the next article, we’ll focus on South Carolina and Georgia.
Hook ‘em!