The Kentucky volleyball program has a nation-best four players on the 2026 American Volleyball Coaches’ Association National Player of the Year Watch List.
Brooklyn DeLeye, Morgan Gaerte, Kassie O’Brien and Molly Tuozzo are all four on the AVCA list.
Here is a press release from UK Athletics:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Looking for its 10th-straight Southeastern Confrence championship and a return trip to the NCAA Volleyball Final Four, the Kentucky Volleyball team placed a nation-best four players on the 2026 American Volleyball Coaches’ Association National Player of the Year Watch List, the AVCA announced Thursday.
Brooklyn DeLeye, Morgan Gaerte, Kassie O’Brien and Molly Tuozzo were all named to the list with Kentucky’s four players the most of any team in the nation as both Nebraska and Purdue had three. This is DeLeye’s third season being named to the preseason AVCA NPOY finalist list with Gaerte, O’Brien and Tuozzo all making their maiden voyage on the list.
Tuozzo, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, is one of only two liberos on the list as she joins Iowa State’s Rachel Van Gorp as the pair of liberos who qualified.
The Southeastern Confrence had eight players make the list of 30 players with three schools represented including Kentucky (4), Texas (2) and Texas A&M (2).
The Preseason Watch List was compiled by the AVCA Division I Women’s Volleyball Awards Committee. They will also be the group working on this through the additional phases of the Player of the Year process, which include: (a) a midseason addition of players to the list [October]; (b) a list of semifinalists [November]; (c) the announcement of the finalists [likely Dec. 14], and (d) revealing the Player of the Year in San Antonio at the AVCA Awards Banquet on Friday Dec. 18.
Players can be both added and subtracted to the National Player of the Year Watch List as the season progresses, as Thursday’s announcement was only an initial list.
Kentucky Players on AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List
#17, Brooklyn DeLeye, 4Y, OH
• 2024 SEC Player of the Year
• 2025 AVCA First Team All-America
• Three-time All-SEC
#15 Morgan Gaerte, 3Y, OPP
• Transferred to Kentucky from Notre Dame this offseason
• First Team All-ACC in 2025
• 4.64 kills per set last season for the Fighting Irish
#6 Kassie O’Brien, 2Y, S
• 2025 AVCA National Freshman of the Year
• 2025 AVCA Second Team All-America
• 2025 First Team All-SEC
#12 Molly Tuozzo, 4Y, L
• 2025 AVCA Third Team All-America
• Two-time All-SEC
• 2025 SEC Tournament MVP
2026 AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List
Noemie Glover, Arizona State
Rachel Van Gorp, Iowa State
Kennedy Martin, Penn State
Taylor Anderson, Purdue
Grace Heaney, Purdue
Kenna Wollard, Purdue
Favor Anyanwu, SMU
Suli Davis, SMU
Lizzy Andrew, Stanford
Logan Parks, Stanford
Evan Hendrix, TCU
Natalie Ring, Texas A&M
Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M
Ana Burolovic, Colorado
Brooklyn DeLeye, Kentucky
Morgan Gaerte, Kentucky
Kassie O’Brien, Kentucky
Molly Tuozzo, Kentucky
Nayleis Cabello, Louisville
Chloe Chicoine, Louisville
Andi Jackson, Nebraska
Harper Murray, Nebraska
Bergen Reilly, Nebraska
Alanah Clemente, Oregon
Olivia Babcock, Pitt
Izzy Starck, Pitt
Cari Spears, Texas
Torrey Stafford, Texas
Jaela Auguste, Wisconsin
Charlie Furbringer, Wisconsin
For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.
