Resetting the Board
Reviewing the Texas volleyball roster entering the new year
Hello. Hi. Long time no talk. How are you?
Obviously, the disappointment of the Regional Final loss to Wisconsin hit us all pretty hard.Then we had the holidays, Stranger Things 5, Texas football’s bowl game (wherein they did indeed wake up feeling the cheesiest, coach), and the early days of basketball season on the 40 Acres where the women’s team continues to be far more fun to watch than the men’s. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, we were supposed to have kept up with Heated Rivalry on HBO? All-in-all, it has been a bit of a whirlwind month or so since volleyball season came to an end (professional leagues notwithstanding).
The plan going through this offseason will be for Brittany to write weekly articles about LOVB Austin’s season, and I’ll be sticking to the burnt orange updates on a bi-weekly basis. You can expect Brittany’s articles every Friday, and my articles every other Wednesday moving forward. That’s not to say Brittany will never have any thoughts about the Longhorns or that I won’t have any about LOVB ATX, but we’ll have our priorities in the run up to spring volleyball and the fall season preview series following not far behind that.
Some of you have been gracious enough to become premium supporters of Point Texas. Brittany and I are working on some benefits for that crowd that we want to introduce for next season specifically for those of you who have taken the leap with us. One idea we’ve had is instant-reaction articles in the wake of each match. Those would drop within an hour or two of a match concluding with thoughts that would be much more from-the-hip. Think less organized article format and more stream of consciousness for what left us buzzing in that match. We’d also love some feedback from the community for other ideas on how we can provide other benefits for our premium subscribers, be it in the comments of this article or in Instagram DMs (@pointtexasvolleyball).
Anywho, let’s jump into talking about what’s gone down in the 512 since the end of the season. We have seen players graduate, the winter transfer portal window, and the freshman class hit campus, so we’re due to establish what the roster looks like currently.
Lifetime Longhorns
Texas graduated four seniors following the conclusion of the 2025 season, each targeting a different path following the end of their careers with Jerritt’s program. I know I’m hardly unique in this, but I know that I will look on this group of women extremely fondly for a long time. They were fixtures not only in the scope of my personal growth as a fan of the sport of volleyball but also in their impact on the team that finally inspired Brittany and I to pursue Point Texas in earnest in 2025.
OPP Devin Kahahawai
L Emma Halter
OH Kenna Miller
OH Whitney Lauenstein
Devin Kahahawai may well go down in history as one of the most under-appreciated Longhorns to ever grace the 40 Acres. Joining the program as a member of the 2022 recruiting class, Devin was ranked #8 overall in her class and the #1 player coming out of the state of Hawaii. Devin never really became the featured weapon or star player that those accolades would imply she was destined for. In the age of the transfer portal and NIL, that sounds like a recipe for her to leave for opportunities with another program, right? But that’s what makes DK so special: she made the decision that Austin was where she wanted to be and that this was the program she wanted to be a part of, and she would work her ass off to carve out a role that was absolutely critical to the team - even if it wasn’t the flashiest or sexiest path. After finally making the transition to the right side in 2024, she completed her career with 240 kills and 122 blocks in 88 appearances. I’m equating her dedication and late-career impact to former Texas WR Jordan Whittington, for all those who are slowly embracing volleyball alongside their long-time love for football. The good news is: she’s not completely done! She’ll be joining Texas beach volleyball this spring as well!
Anything good you can say about Emma Halter has already been said a hundred times before, but she realistically deserves to have those things all repeated again another thousand times before you start to scratch the surface of the kind of impact that Baby Spice (a nickname bestowed upon her by Jerritt Elliott’s wife, Andrea) leaves behind at Texas. Zoe Fleck (now Jarvis) may have been the absolutely outstanding libero for the 2022 national title run, but if it isn’t for true freshman Emma managing to become a total menace in her defensive specialist role and holding down the back middle alongside Zoe, there’s a very real argument to be made that Texas does not take home the hardware that season. Prior to Emma and Zoe both arriving on campus in 2022, Texas had something of a reputation of being able to develop middle blockers and pin hitters like crazy while the “littles” were not the focal point of the program. Emma has helped usher in a new era of Texas that features not good, not great, but downright absurd backrow defense; as a result, highly sought-after players like Ramsey Gary, Callie Krueger, and Emma Cugino have also decided to call Austin home. I’ll go to my grave annoyed by Emma not getting the accolades she deserved, but she departs as an AVCA All-American honorable mention, #8 in all-time career digs at Texas, and with the school record for most digs in a three set match with 25. You can catch Emma playing for her hometown Indy Ignite in Major League Volleyball professionally this winter. EM-MA HAL-TER 👏, 👏, 👏👏👏!
Despite taking a redshirt in 2022, Kenna Miller made the decision to forgo her final year of collegiate eligibility at Texas and graduate. She saw time in 2025 primarily in a service sub role but logged five kills and one block in the 18 sets she participated in across her college career. And I suppose I should be calling her Kenna McDonald as she married Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Cooper McDonald (and subsequently changed her last name) just before this past Christmas! Congratulations!
Big Hit Whit came to Texas in 2024 after leaving the Nebraska Cornhuskers between the 2022 and 2023 seasons and following the birth of her child. After battling through injuries and the subsequent recoveries early in her Texas career, she had something of a mini-breakout to end the 2025 season. Whitney rotated in during multiple sets in November and December, and hit .299 with 33 kills and 14 blocks in 20 sets as part of the double substitution. After seemingly exhausting her eligibility this season, the NCAA granted Lauenstein an additional year of eligibility with a medical redshirt waiver, and she chose to transfer to Happy Valley and join a restructuring Penn State squad. Best of luck to Whitney in all her future endeavors and matches against teams that aren’t Texas!
The Portal Taketh
In addition to the aforementioned graduate transfer of Whitney Lauenstein, the winter transfer portal claimed a surprising name: rising junior middle blocker Ayden Ames announced she was leaving Texas one day after the loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, ultimately finding her new home with the Creighton Bluejays.
Ayden had a shaky start to the Wisconsin match, ultimately being subbed out in favor of Taylor Harvey during the second set. While it wasn’t the first time Ayden had been subbed out during a difficult stretch this season, it still stood out to me as odd enough to tell the Point Texas group chat that I had weird vibes from the whole thing. That foresight was of little comfort when Ayden did announce her intention to enter the portal the next day.
For the second year in a row, Texas is now forced to replace their best, most experienced middle blocker following a surprise (to fans) transfer. It also begs the question: what the hell is going on to cause this? Marianna Singletary’s transfer during the spring window followed the departure of assistant coach Erik Sullivan from the program; was the new coach at the net perhaps a catalyst for both Mari and Ayden to leave Austin? We discussed throughout the season how the coaching staff had changed the approach to the blocking scheme which many did not think paid the dividends that they were hoping for. Perhaps some frustration festered from a perception that Ayden was getting the hook from matches too soon rather than being allowed to work through whatever the source of the problem was? Or maybe fan frustration with setter Ella Swindle or the coaching staff seemingly not leaning on the middles offensively found its way into the locker room? Additionally, there was some discussion that Ayden may have had an interest in seeing time as a right-side attacker, a spot pretty convincingly held down by Cari Spears after her freshman campaign.
Regardless, it leaves Texas in something of a bind. The Horns didn’t bring any new faces in via the portal last month at middle blocker (nor any other position, for that matter). Officially, there are only two middle blockers on the roster in Nya Bunton and Taylor Harvey, leaving the room for error here next season razor-thin.
Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed
Jerritt Elliott does boast the best recruiting class in the country heading into the 2026 season with their three-player signing class. The following shows their positional rankings as recruits according to VBAdrenaline.com:
#1 L/#13 OVR Emma Cugino
#1 S/#4 OVR Genevieve Harris
#1 OH/#1 OVR Henley Anderson
All three of Emma, Genevieve, and Henley were 2025 AVCA First Team High School All-Americans as well as members of the 2025 USA Volleyball U19 National Team. Yet again, Jerritt lands a class absolutely loaded for bear. While last year’s class was similarly stellar, this year’s class holds one primary advantage: all of them are on campus for spring practice and winter conditioning. They have a tough road ahead though, as each of their positions already have experienced returning or presumptive starters ahead of them that will need to be displaced if the freshmen want to see time on the floor.
Overall Roster Outlook
As we enter the new year, Texas currently has 14 players on the roster, four shy of the NCAA’s limit of 18. This both offers opportunity to a large percentage of the roster to earn plenty of playing time as well as flexibility for the coaching staff to add depth in the transfer portal window which follows spring practice.
Having lost two players to graduation, I propose that we begin with the pin hitters:
Sr Torrey Stafford
So Abby Vander Wal
So Cari Spears
rFr/So Addy Gaido
Fr Henley Anderson
This is a loaded and very experienced room heading into 2026. Torrey Stafford is obviously one of the favorites to win AVCA Player of the Year as Texas’ six-rotation OH1, Cari Spears was an All-American last season following a successful transition to hitting from the right pin, and Abby Vander Wal recorded 280 kills while swinging .249 as the OH2. All three are well entrenched in their roles, right? If anyone’s job is in question, it’s AVW. Henley Anderson played extremely well for Team USA from the right side. It’s hard to imagine that Jerritt would have invested so much time into AVW last season just for her to not be the OH2 come the start of the season, but it’s almost equally-hard to imagine Henley Anderson not finding her way to the floor given her talent level. It’s an embarrassment of riches for the coaches here to the point of being a bit of a minefield to navigate the expectations and personalities in the room.
After running with only two players last season, Texas finally has a third setter on the roster:
Sr Ella Swindle
Jr Rella Binney
Fr Genevieve Harris
This publication remains staunchly pro-Swindle, though we can acknowledge that there are parts of the fanbase that continue to grumble about Ella’s play last season. She remains the presumptive starter in this room due to her leadership qualities and fiery disposition, but Rella Binney played a ton in 2025 with Texas’ employment of the dub sub. Genevieve Harris has an uphill battle ahead of her to earn playing time in 2026. Could she be a candidate for a redshirt, or will the freshman setter defy the odds and surprise us all?
Despite the departure of Emma Halter, the backrow remains a potent group in Gregory Gym:
Sr Anja Kujundzic
Sr Ramsey Gary
rFr/So Callie Krueger
Fr Emma Cugino
Ramsey Gary is all-but-certainly donning the black libero jersey this fall, a position she will likely be more comfortable in than she seemed at times while playing in the back middle as the primary defensive specialist in 2025. Anja Kujundzic saw a lot of time as a service substitute last season as well and will be looking to expand her role to the first DS. Callie Krueger seemed to be a ball of energy on the sidelines when she redshirted last year; my gut tells me she’s an Emma Halter starter kit. And this is another room with a stellar freshman joining the party as Emma Cugino could well push to play early much like the last Emma in her position.
Finally, we take a glance at the direst of straits:
rJr Nya Bunton
So Taylor Harvey
The two remaining members of the middle blocker room are obviously experienced as a result of how much they played last season, though neither matched Ayden’s output in terms of blocks-per-set or kills-per-set. Even playing this room with only one more player last season was less-than-ideal, so Jerritt likely needs to find a way to bolster the depth here even if he is confident in the steps forward either of them will take this offseason. One rumor getting passed around the fanbase is that outside hitter Addy Gaido has potentially been cross-training here. If true, I would still hope to see a graduate transfer akin to 2024’s Soah Franklin as a depth piece and option for the practice gym to run a full squad on either side of the net.
In two weeks, we’ll do a bit more of a deep dive on the position battles to keep an eye on once spring practice and the associated exhibition matches get underway. We’ll also spend more time discussing ways that the coaching staff may be considering growing the roster closer to that 18-player limit before the fall.
Hook ‘em!