February 4, 2026
Love is in the Air! Cara Cress is engaged!
Who doesn’t love love?! On Tuesday, Indy Ignite’s Cara Cresse shared on Instagram that she’s engaged!! The lucky guy who gets to marry her is Kansas City Chief defensive end Ashton “Latto” Gillotte. Cresse’s Instagram post is filled with congratulations that’s basically a “Who’s Who” of women’s volleyball. So let us be another voice in the chorus to say, CONGRATULATIONS!!!
January 30, 2026
More Baby News!!! This Time from LOVB Salt Lake
‘Tis the season for babies! And LOVB Salt Lake’s Dani Drews is the latest to share the wonderful news! Drews posted on Instagram a series of photos and videos of herself, LOVB Salt Lake team, husband, pets, and family, and left us waiting until the 16th one to show a video of an ultrasound and heart beat! Congratulations to Dani and her husband, Christian on their future bundle of joy!!!
January 28, 2026
LOVB Adds Two New Players to Their Rosters
Days after LOVB Madison libero Anna Pogany suffered a heartbreaking Achilles tear in the fifth set of their match against LOVB Austin, and days after MLV’s Atlanta Vibe surprisingly waived setter Maddie Waak after a solid start to the season (and having just played the Thursday before), we now know who will fill Pogany’s shoes and where Waak is heading. On Wednesday, LOVB Madison announced they signed former Penn State libero Gillian Grimes to their roster, and LOVB Houston shared they signed Texas native (and Texas A&M champ) Maddie Waak.
Grimes was drafted by the San Diego Mojo in the 2nd round of their 2025 draft, but was released in early January. She’ll join Milica Medved as libero.
January 23, 2026
It’s a Girl! Cal Poly Head Coach Caroline Walters’ Gender Reveal was SO Sweet! Literally!
Congratulations to Cal Poly Head Coach Caroline Walters and her wife on their baby girl! On Friday, the Mustangs shared a video of their team biting into a cupcake to reveal the gender of Coach’s baby. And the sweet treat revealed a baby girl is on the way! We’re so excited for both of you and we’re looking forward to another future women’s volleyball star in the future!
January 22-23, 2026
UCLA Head Coach Alfee Reft Stepping Down to Pursue Professional Opportunities… Named LOVB San Francisco Head Coach!
What a wild 24 hours! On Thursday, news came out of UCLA saying Alfee Reft was stepping down as the women’s volleyball head coach to pursue professional opportunities. It was unknown what Coach was up to… (We joked that he was pursuing a Broadway singing career as he told Emily Ehman at Big Ten Media Day back in August that if he wasn’t a volleyball coach, that would be his profession.) Now we know he took “professional opportunity” literally, because on Friday he was named LOVB San Francisco’s head coach for their inaugural 2027 season! And shortly after this news broke, LOVB San Francisco also announced that LOVB’s Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Martin is joining the ownership group and will serve as team President. Congratulations to both on these new roles!
January 11, 2026
You Can Get a Cameo from Bella Bergmark!
I haven’t used Cameo before, but if I did, I would pay the to have LOVB Austin’s Bella Bergmark leave a message for someone. During the LOVB Austin First Serve broadcast against LOVB Atlanta, the announcers shared that Bergmark has a Cameo account. The Cal/Texas alum only has a few videos left at the low price of $25, so make sure you get in there before the price goes up!
January 11, 2026
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and the NCAA Tournament wins Golden Globe for Best Original Song
If you watched the NCAA Tournament, you couldn’t escape the catchy, high-pitched song “Golden” from the Netflix TV show KPop Demon Hunters. Even if you were in the arena, you couldn’t escape it… we know because we heard the Pitt band playing it in Kansas City before the semifinals. But credit where credit’s due… it Is super catchy and super popular and that’s why it won the Golden Globe for “Best Original Song”! Whether or not you are over the song, you need to take the time to listen to EJAE’s acceptance speech because it’s both inspiring and sweet. Congrats!
January 8, 2026
Texas A&M Head Coach Jamie Morrison heads LOVB Houston’s Ceremonial First Serve
Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison is on quite the victory tour! Besides winning the school’s first ever NCAA Championship, he’s had the honor of bringing the trophy on quite the tour, including to work, to his daughter’s playroom and to nestling by his Christmas tree. And now he gets to be part of LOVB Houston’s ceremonial First Serve to start the season. The perks just keep growing!
January 8, 2026
Top Omaha Supernovas Stars Took Pay Cut to Keep Entire Roster
Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you can’t still be in the mood for giving! Hurrdat Sports interviewed Omaha Supernovas GM John Cook for their podcast, and the former Nebraska head coach revealed that the stars of the team offered to take a pay cut so they didn’t have to cut the final two players from the team. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
January 4, 2026
Haleigh Washington and Amber Igiede Took the Red Carpet at the Critics Choice Awards
It’s about time we saw volleyball players on the red carpet! And not for a sports event. LOVB Salt Lake middle blocker Haleigh Washington and LOVB Houston middle blocker Amber Igiede got glammed up to walk to red carpet at the Critics’ Choice Awards, which aired on E! and USA Network. With USA Network being one of LOVB’s newest broadcast partners, it makes sense why the two were invited and got to strut their stuff! We need more of this!
January 4, 2026
LOVB Houston Gets Treated by the Houston Texas
LOVB Houston were special guests at the Houston Texans game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Babes in Blue had pregame field passes, where they took lots of pictures and middle Madi Kingdon Rishel threw a pretty great pass to a guy working the game. They then sat in a suite for the Texans 38-30 win.
