UPLAND, IN – The 2025 LC State Volleyball team continues its historic season on Saturday with the program’s first national tournament match in 14 years and first as members of the Cascade Conference. Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer helped the Warriors to four straight appearances in the national tournament as a student-athlete, and now the third-year head coach leads a new era of LC State Volleyball back to the national stage. The Warriors are in Upland, Ind., for the 2025 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship Opening Round to take on 22nd-seeded Taylor (Ind.) on Saturday.
“This moment truly belongs to the incredible student-athletes on our roster,” Palmer said. “It’s a very exciting accomplishment to receive an at-large bid to the national tournament. It is a direct reflection of the commitment, hard work and resilience our program has shown throughout the season. The field is filled with great teams, and we are honored to represent LC State as a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference for the first time in program history.”
LC State has only faced Taylor twice in program history and both times were more than 25 years ago at the national tournament. The Trojans won a five-set match in 1997, and the Warriors won in four sets in 1999. A lot has changed in the sport of volleyball since that time with the transition to rally scoring.
The match is set for Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. PT and will be streamed on the Urban Edge Network. LC State will hold a watch party in the P1FCU Activity Center. The winner of the contest will advance to the final site of the tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, that will run Dec. 3-9.
LC STATE WARRIORS – 15-9, 12-8
The Warriors enter the tournament with a 15-9 overall record after battling through the toughest conference in the NAIA. The Cascade Conference sent a record seven teams to the national tournament this year and had eight ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes throughout the season. LC State finished tied for fourth in the regular season standings behind powerhouses such as No. 1 Eastern and No. 5 Corban (Ore.). No. 16 College of Idaho, No. 18 LC State, No. 19 Bushnell (Ore.), (RV) Northwest (Wash.) and (RV) Walla Walla (Wash.) all made the tournament. The CCC earned five of 15 at-large bids which accounts for one-third of the at-large portion of the field.
The Warriors faced top 25 teams all season long thanks to the strength of the CCC. LC State opened the season on a 9-0 run that featured victories over then-No. 11 Montana Western and No. 19 Southern Oregon. To emphasize the strength of the conference, the Warriors faced four teams ranked in the top 20 in the final two weeks of the regular season, including two in the top five.
The depth of the Warrior lineup will be a key factor in Saturday’s match. LC State is led by three-time First-Team All-Cascade Conference outside hitter Juliauna Forgach Aguilar who was second in the CCC in kills per set this season at 4.22 which ranks eighth in the NAIA. She also put together a career season at the net with 64 blocks, which is second-best on the team, and takes an average of 4.63 points per set into the national tournament.
The back row is anchored by Second-Team All-CCC libero Ella Stosich who led the conference in digs per set with season with 4.49. She has the most aces of anyone of the team with 30. Teagan Scott, who earned honorable mention honors, was at the top of the leader board in assists per set with 8.65. She added to her arsenal with 44 kills, 1.84 digs per set and 37 blocks.
Junior middle blocker Karissa Lindner made her name as one of the best defensive players at the net in the NAIA this season with 1.28 blocks per set which ranks 15th in the NAIA. She put up 109 blocks this season with 1.44 kills per set and a team-best .290 attack percentage.
Other threats offensively for LC State include outside hitter Taylor Boyce and middle blocker Abby Beaton. Boyce was second on the team in kills per set (3.25) and Beaton was third with 1.49 to go with 59 total blocks.
On the defensive end, the Warriors have relied heavily on the group known as the “Bomb Squad” that includes Stosich, Makenzie Stout, Hannah Dotson, Kadence Moore and Ashlyn Watt. The group of defensive and serving specialists account for 66% of the teams’ digs 81% of the teams’ service aces. Stout is second on the team in both categories with 26 aces and 2.07 digs per set.
TAYLOR TROJANS – 20-11, 11-7
Taylor, receiving votes in the final poll and the No. 22 seed in the tournament, earned an at-large bid out of the Crossroads League with a 20-11 overall record. This season marks the Trojans’ eight trip to the national tournament and first since 2022. TU has victories over four ranked teams this season including then-No. 11 Montana Western, No.19 Missouri Baptist, No. 23 Spring Arbor (Mich.) and No. 13 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio). Spring Arbor defeated Taylor in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament.
Ellie Frey leads Taylor after a standout season where she led the CL with 4.37 kills per set and 489 total kills, and she collected the most digs per set by a non-libero in the league at 3.30. She led the team with 36 service aces and was named First-Team All-Crossroads League. Middle blocker Daya Vestal earned second-team honors with a league-best .339 attack percentage with 2.08 kills per set.
McKaylah Flagle, Lindsay Springer and Margo Hernandez earned honorable mention honors in the Crossroads League. Flagle averaged 4.57 digs per set and Springer dished out 4.93 assists per set while counterpart Hernandez averaged 5.43 assists per set. Ruth Anderson was named to the Crossroads League All-Freshman Team with 0.92 blocks per set.
