Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina's 2026 volleyball season preview starts with a look at the liberos, which features a pair of upperclassmen and two sophomores in the balanced group entering the fall campaign. WCU's liberos are the lone position group returning each player from a season ago to the court.

The back row defensive group is led by rising senior Eda Yalçinkaya, who joined the program's 1,000 career dig club in 2025. Yalcinkaya is joined by rising junior Halley Tang, and the pair of veterans are joined on the back row by rising sophomores Elise Gurley and Evelyn Keefer. The Catamounts look to build off a 2025 season that saw WCU rank third in the league with 16 digs per set.

Yalcinkaya begins her final season on the Catamount defense after recording a team-best 397 digs last year, which ranked seventh in the Southern Conference. She was one of four Catamounts to see action in every set a season ago as she appeared in all 29 matches with 24 starts of her 25 starts coming as the libero. A product of Istanbul, Turkey, Yalcinkaya set a career benchmark in a Catamount uniform with 26 digs in a five-set comeback victory over Bradley as part of the first Blue Ridge VB Classic.

Yalcinkaya recorded double-digit digs 23 times last season, with 14 of those occurrences coming in SoCon play. She reached the 1,000-career dig plateau in a road match with chromatic rival Furman. Yalcinkaya also filled up the assist column with 62 helpers, with a career-high tying six coming in back-to-back matches against Charlotte in the Blue Ridge VB Classic and against mountain rival UNC Asheville.

Tang joins her fellow upperclassmen coming off her best season in the Purple & Gold as she finished with 302 digs. Along with Yalcinkaya, the duo marked one of only three pairs in the league to eclipse 300 or more digs in the SoCon last season, joining Chattanooga and UNCG. Tang set a career-high with 24 digs in a late-season matchup against Samford as one of her 17 matches in double-digit digs, which included double-digit digs in 12 SoCon matchups.

The first of two sophomores sees Wake Forest, N.C. native in Elise Gurley return off of a solid debut season. She was one of just four Catamounts to see action in all 104 sets and was one of eight to play in every match last season. Gurley totaled 193 digs over her 29 matches as she reached double figures in seven matches, with her best performance coming against chromatic rival Furman with 16. She also had a strong showing on the service line as she finished fourth on the team with 19 aces and was one of six to have double-digit service aces in 2025.

The final of WCU's four liberos is Gurley's classmate, Evelyn Keefer, who appeared in 10 matches throughout her debut campaign, which spanned 20 sets for the Catamounts. In limited on-court time for Keefer, she had seven digs and three aces, with a season-high four coming against mountain rival UNC Asheville paired with one of her aces.

Off the court, all four earned SoCon Honor Roll recognition as Tang, Gurley and Keefer each received the commissioner's medal, with Tang and Yalcinkaya being named to the CSC All-District Team.

Preseason practice for the Catamount volleyball team continues ahead of the squad's lone exhibition match against Anderson University scheduled for Friday, Aug. 21, at 6 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. WCU opens the 2026 season a week later against Butler at Clemson's Big Orange Bash in the first of two early-season tournaments before opening its home schedule on Tuesday, Sept. 8, against Gardner-Webb.

All told, 11 of the squad's first 13 matches will be played away from the friendly confines of Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.

WCU's 2026 position preview on CatamountSports.com continues with both the pins, middle blockers, and setters heading into the 2026 season.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).