Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball takes to the court on Friday, Aug. 21, in the squad's lone exhibition match on Friday, Aug. 21, as the Catamounts host Anderson, with first serve at 6 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Friday's match will be a minimum of four sets with the option for a fifth set during the preseason action.
Admission to Friday's match – and all home matches throughout the 2026 season – is free of charge. Please note that neither live stats nor live video will be available for the exhibition match.
Under the direction of 16th-year head coach Karen Glover, Western Carolina returns 10 players from a year ago, including the reigning Southern Conference Setter of the Year in Katie Boney and the defending SoCon Freshman of the Year, Tatum Sharp. Boney led the conference with 1,066 assists, ranking among the national leaders in assists and assists per set (10.25). She became the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career helpers. Sharp led WCU with 252 kills to accompany 74 blocks to earn her freshman team honors.
WCU brings back its top two returners in kills in Sharp and sophomore Samantha Kranzler, as well as its top six in assists, including Boney, Eda Yalçinkaya, Halley Tang, Kranzler, Elise Gurley, Sharp. At the service line, WCU's top eight leaders are back in terms of aces.
On the defensive end, the Catamounts return their top seven in digs (Yalcinkaya, Tang, Kranzler, Boney, Gurley, Zudans and Sharp) along with three of the top five in blocks (Sharp, Boney and Kranzler).
The 2026 roster features a combined five freshmen and six sophomores, tied for the third-youngest squad in the Southern Conference entering the season.
Glover promoted Katie Butler in the off-season as she returns to the sidelines for her first season as a full-time assistant. Madison Konopka joined staff over the summer as a former four-year standout on the volleyball court. Konopka spent her last two seasons at Jacksonville State in Alabama after playing her first two years at Binghamton in New York.
Western Carolina hosts NCAA Division II-member Anderson University, which posted a 23-8 record a season ago and a 16-4 mark in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). The Trojans are under the direction of Todd Hay, who's in his 10th season at the helm. Anderson advanced to the NCAA DII Southeast Regional finals before ultimately falling to top seed Wingate to close out 2025.
Junior right side Mia Elder leads a strong offensive attack of returners for Anderson, one of three Trojans to earn AVCA Honorable Mention All-American status. Elder recorded a team-best 336 kills with 19 matches in double-digit kills. Senior outside hitter Ava Reeves joined a quintet of Trojans with over 170 kills returning to Anderson in 2026 as she tallied 331 kills. Senior Ellie Nieporte led the team with 1,129 assists, which included 14 double-doubles.
Western Carolina begins the regular season a week from Friday, meeting Big East foe Butler on Friday, Aug. 28, as part of the Big Orange Bash hosted by Clemson. The Catamounts also face Charleston Southern and the host Tigers the following two afternoons to close out the opening weekend of action in the Palmetto State. Live stats can be found at CatamountSports.com, along with Sunday's tournament finale against the Tigers, the only one slated to be streamed on ACCNX (paid subscription required).
Following the trio of matches in Clemson, the Catamounts return to North Carolina to take part in the 2nd Annual Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic, in conjunction with the Ingles, Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville, Pepsi, and New Belgium Brewing. The three-day event is in the ExploreAsheville.com Arena at the Harrah's Cherokee Center, the same location as the 2026 SoCon Volleyball Championship in November that concludes WCU's 31-match regular-season schedule.
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).
