RICHARDSON, Texas - The Oklahoma Christian volleyball program was selected to finish seventh in the 2026 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, the league announced Thursday, Aug. 20.

2025 conference champion Angelo State was picked to defend its crown, picking up 951 total points while garnering 41 of the 53 first-place votes. West Texas A&M took second with seven first-place nods and 883 total points. Lubbock Christian (837), UT Tyler (778) and St. Mary's (698) filled out the top five.

Third-year head coach Asa Freeman comes into 2026 with back-to-back Lone Star Conference Tournament berths under his belt, including last season's program-record 11 conference wins. The Eagles finished seventh in the league last year, but graduated seven seniors off that 19-10 squad.

Leading a young team this year will be third-year outside hitter and 2025 All-Conference First Team recipient Chloe Jones, senior defensive specialist Sara Freeman and senior middle blocker Lauren Cary. Freeman and Cary come in as the only two seniors on the 2026 roster.

"Since I have taken over we have had a few great groups of seniors that laid the foundation for our program," Coach Freeman said. "We are just hoping we can continue building on what they left us and continuing the legacy of our program."

Key newcomers joining the Eagles are a pair of NCAA Division I transfers in redshirt sophomore Molly Brunell from West Georgia and redshirt freshman outside hitter Jenna McClure from Florida International, freshman middle blocker Leah Duncan and freshman defensive specialist Bennet Berryman. Both McClure and Berryman's sisters played at OC during their college careers.

Prior to getting into conference play, OC will face three top-16 teams in its first eight matches, beginning with No. 8 Washburn up in Topeka, Kan. Thursday, Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. as part of the Washburn Invitational. After playing four more matches in St. Joseph, Mo. the following weekend, the maroon-and-gray come back to The Nest for its home opener against Midwestern State Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. for the LSC Challenge.  


2026 LSC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
 

Rank	School	Total Points	1st-Place Votes
1	Angelo State	951	41
2	West Texas A&M	883	7
3	Lubbock Christian	837	3
4	UT Tyler	778
5	St. Mary's	698	1
6	Texas Woman's	691	1
7	Oklahoma Christian	645
8	Texas A&M-Kingsville	585
9	DBU	527	1
10	Midwestern State	509
11	St. Edward's	463
12	UT Permian Basin	410
13	UT Dallas	347
14	Western New Mexico	287
15	Texas A&M International	210
16	Cameron	172
17	Eastern New Mexico	167
18	Sul Ross State	74