The Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship will begin in a month, and the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks look to turn their season around and continue playing deep into the tournament.
This is a very young roster, with over half of the team made up of freshmen and sophomores who have shown exceptional promise. Head coach Jaclynn Wilson affirmed that this is a young team ready to prove themselves.
“We’ve really struggled to come out on top in a lot of matches. Coming off of a loss last night that we thought we could win, we were ready to fight. I keep telling the girls that at some point you need to stand your line, and we’re on our home court and we have something to prove, so I think we were locked in and fired up to play,” said Wilson in a post-game interview on Oct. 10, 2025.
Freshman middle blocker Carly Mueller, sophomore outside hitter Kylie Surratt and freshman opposite hitter Sienna Wnetrzak have averaged at least one kill per set in conference play this season. Surratt has led the team in kills per set with 2.97. Freshman outside hitter Ella McFarland has led the team in blocks per set (conference play) with 1.50.
Another player who has shown out this season is team captain and senior outside hitter Kayla Bryant. She has 103 kills on the season and currently averages 2.98 kills per set.
The team’s conference win against rival Western Illinois Leathernecks on Oct. 10, 2025, was one for the ages. The five-set thriller home win showed the team’s chemistry and skill. In the game against the Leathernecks, Bryant recorded a season high 17 kills.
“In the locker room, we’re screaming, we’re happy and we’ve been waiting for that feeling, and we finally got it tonight. It needed to happen,” said Bryant.
She also attributed part of the team’s win to the home crowd advantage, with how loud UT Martin students and fans in the audience cheered.
“There is so much intensity on the court, and in the crowd, really fueled us. There were multiple times where I had goosebumps. It was amazing.”
Coach Wilson spoke on how the team knew it would be a challenge when it came to conference play and earning a spot in the tournament.
“That was our first conference win; we need a lot more of those to make the tournament. The tournament is in mid-November. They take the top eight teams. We’ve got to find a way to get some wins. In our conference, no one [is] really beating each other. There’s no one really sitting at the top; that makes it even more challenging to get in when you don’t have a couple at the bottom fighting. We’re really focused with one at a time right now,” said Wilson.
When asked about players who have shown out, Wilson named red-shirt libero freshman Abby Freund and freshman setter Ava Peters.
“We’re super young. We have two freshmen who I think are making big impacts and big strides for us. Our libero, Abby, and our setter, Ava. They’ve been recognized within the conference as freshman of the week, both of them. For freshmen, they are making huge impacts for us,” said Wilson.
This is a team that has proven they can win games. They came close on Oct. 23, 2025, with a 3-2 loss against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. A loss in five sets proves they can go the distance. This is a hungry team that can make the OVC tournament.
