The 2025 college volleyball season is right around the corner. Here are my top storylines for this season.
1. Can Penn State go back-to-back in its new era?
Penn State ended last season back on top of college volleyball in a new era under Katie Schumacher-Cawley. We know the Nittany Lions had the biggest volleyball dynasty with four national titles in a row from 2007 to 2010. Now they bring in one of the best players in the country and look to rebuild while staying on top.
2. Big expectations for Big Red
Nebraska heads into the season at the No. 1 spot, looking like the most dangerous lineup in the country. With a new head coach in Dani Busboom Kelly, can they live up to the hype? There are a lot of high hopes and expectations with one of the most talented lineups.
alllll the angles from our fav red-white rally 🎥
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB)
3. New season, new rosters
Multiple teams got an entirely new look in the transfer portal — the season is going to start fast and strong. It will be interesting to see how the rosters with players from all over the country gel with one another.
SEE MORE OFF-SEASON CHANGES: Transfer portal recap
4. Marquee matchups in the first few weeks
We have incredible nonconference tournaments this year for the first time. So many top-10 matchups, top-25 matchups right out of the gates. Many of the top-10 teams. Many of the top-10 teams will probably have early records that will look a lot different than years past.
OPEN SEASON: Check out the who, when and where kicking off the 2025 season
5. Restored and revamped rivalries
It feels like we have some new fun matchups to keep an eye on, or old rivalries that have an added flair. With the rise of Texas A&M after last year's run, that Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry seems even more fun this year. How about Louisville vs. Kentucky — new stars on both teams. Then there's Kentucky and Texas fighting for the top of the SEC. Or how about Penn State and Nebraska after the reverse sweep in the semifinals and as the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams. That one feels like it has some added value this season as well.
6. New portal additions projected to push UCLA toward the top
There is a lot of preseason talk about UCLA rebuilding from the portal. The Bruins have four national championships, but three were in the '90s. This rebuild could be a push to bring UCLA back to the forefront of college volleyball.
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐏𝐊! ✍️
— UCLA Women's Volleyball (@UCLAWomensVB)
The talented middle blocker with National Championship experience is officially in the Blue and Gold!
7. Fresh faces at the helm of college volleyball
We have some new coaching eras beginning in 2025. Multiple legendary head coaches stepped down after 2024: John Cook, Ray Bechard, Mary Wise and more. We will embark on the new eras of Dani Busboom Kelly at Nebraska, Matt Ulmer at Kansas and Dan Meske at Louisville to name a few. 2025 feels like the start of a new era.
8. Who's the next big name?
And finally: Who will emerge as superstars this season? Last year graduated a lot of very big shoes to fill, and we have high profile youngsters and freshmen to look forward to seeing on the court this season. Last year we saw names like Izzy Starck, a freshman, go on to win the national title. Who will be big-time this year? We have highly touted recruits like Abby Vander Wal at Texas or players like Stella Swenson at Minnesota who didn't play last year.
So many question marks for this season — and what I feel like is the one of the most highly anticipated college volleyball seasons yet. .
