2025 CUSA Volleyball Championship Central

MIAMI – The 2025 Conference USA Volleyball Championship began Friday with FIU hosting at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Fla. The league’s top eight teams competed on day one of the three-day, single elimination round for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Missouri State, FIU, WKU and Kennesaw State each punched their ticket to the semifinals after capturing wins in the quarterfinal round. The championship action continues Saturday with a pair of games as (8) Missouri State takes on (4) FIU at 12 p.m. ET, while No. 2 WKU will compete against No. 3 Kennesaw State at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both matches are broadcast on ESPN+.

Match 1: (8) Missouri State 3, (1) UTEP 0 | Box Score
 
For the first time since 2003, an eighth seed knocks off the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinal round of the CUSA Tournament. (8) Missouri State secured the sweep of top-seeded UTEP to move on to the semifinal round on Saturday.
 
Peyton McKee led the Bears with a match-high 18 kills on a .412 hitting clip. Rilynn Finley also posted in double figures with 10 kills along with three digs and one block. Hannah Gardner helped lead Missouri State to a .340 hitting percentage with 22 assists, while Rossana Papa chipped in 13. Lexi Weinberg was efficient on both sides of the ball for the Bears, tallying eight kills on a .438 clip and three blocks.
 
UTEP’s Torrance Lovesee was the leading scorer for the Miners, posting 13 kills and three blocks. Sara Pustahija recorded 11 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Kalia Kohler tallied a team-high 23 assists and seven digs, while Mattie Gantt added 15 assists and five digs.

Match 2: (4) FIU 3, (5) Liberty 0 | Box Score
 
No. 4 FIU cruises to a sweep of No. 5 Liberty as the Panthers recorded 48 teams kills and 10 blocks, holding the Flames to a .091 hitting percentage. Liberty ends its season with an overall record of 20-10.
 
FIU had a balanced offense as three Panthers posted double-digit kill matches. Rebekah Pfefferkorn led FIU with 13 kills on a .500 hitting clip, Kira Givans tallied 12 kills hitting .524 and Sofie Vogel recorded 10 kills with zero errors for an impressive .769 hitting percentage, while adding a match-high seven blocks. Savannah Cook posted her ninth double-double of the season with 41 assists and 10 digs, leading the Panthers to a season-high team hitting percentage of .426.
 
Liberty had three Flames record seven kills a piece in Carly O’Brien, Jenna Otts and Paige Overcash. Molly Littlefield recorded a team-high seven digs. Alison Bierwagon (14) and Charli Crowson (8) combined for 24 assists.  
 
Match 3: (2) WKU 3, (7) NM State 1 | Box Score
 
No. 2 WKU fights off No. 7 NM State 3-1 as the Co-Regular Season Champions move on to the semifinal round on Saturday.  Despite losing the first set, the Hilltoppers came firing back hitting above .300 in the final three sets.  The Aggies end their season at 14-16 overall.
 
CUSA Freshman of the Year, Kaira Knox led the Hilltoppers offensively with 14 kills on a .357 hitting clip, while adding three digs and three blocks. CUSA Player and Setter of the Year, Callie Bauer notched her fifth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 11 digs. Defensively, Tayler Baron led the charge with 16 digs and added a career-high five aces, while Faith Young pitched in with a team-high five blocks.
 
Maggie Lightheart led the Aggies with 16 kills, posting eight kills in the first set alone. Jaelynn Kohli chipped in 12 kills, four digs and two blocks. Makayla Martinez tallied a team-high 16 digs, along with four assists.
 
Match 4: (3) Kennesaw State 3, (6) Jax State 0 | Box Score
No. 3 Kennesaw State swept No. 6 Jax State on Friday night as the Owls advanced to the semifinals round of the CUSA Tournament for the second consecutive year. Kennesaw State is one game away from a 20-win season, while the Gamecocks season ended at 14-15.

Kennesaw State had five Owls record four or more kills with Manu Johnsen leading the way with nine on a .320 hitting clip. Haley Patterson erupted for eight kills hitting an impressive .417, while adding seven blocks. Kaeley Walz and Kourtney Brown recorded 13 and nine assists, respectively. Leah Freeman led the Owls backcourt with nine digs and two assists.

Kayla Williams was the leading scorer for the Gamecocks with 12 kills, while Sanni Rantanen and Amaya Tolentino posted eight kills each. Luci Wilkinson tallied a match-high 12 digs and Charlee Solomon recorded a match-high 31 assists.