Women's Volleyball | 8/17/2026 12:00:00 PM
(St. George, Utah - Aug. 17, 2026) - The Utah Tech volleyball program close out their exhibition slate on Saturday afternoon at No. 24 BYU at noon at Smith Fieldhouse.
The Trailblazers open up the regular season at the Utah Valley Invitational on Aug. 28-29 and bring back 11 returners along with welcoming six newcomers to the 2026 roster.
Let's take a look at each member of the Trailblazers' 2026 roster.
EXHIBTION #2
Who | Utah Tech (0-0) at No. 24 BYU (0-0)
When | Saturday, Aug. 22 – 12 p.m.
Where | Smith Fieldhouse - Provo, Utah |
Live Stats |
Tickets
Social Media | Instagram +
Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers
Quick Glance at BYU
- The Cougars are ranked No. 24 in the preseason AVCA Volleyball Coaches Poll released on Aug. 10.
- BYU is coming off a 22-9 overall record in 2025 and went 10-8 in the Big 12 to tie for sixth in the conference.
- The Cougars fell to Cal Poly in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, their 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
- BYU opened the season with the Blue-White Scrimmage on Aug. 15 and get the regular season started at the FGCU Invitational in Fort Myers on Aug. 28-29.
Returners
Fifth Year (2)
Making an unexpected return for their fifth years in college, the Trailblazers return a pair of All-WAC selections in outside hitter
Kennedi Knudsen and middle blocker
Casidy Fried.
A First Team All-WAC selection in 2024 & a Second Team All-WAC selection in 2025, Knudsen became the program's career leader in kills last season and enters 2026 with 981 kills as well as ranking second in career kill average (3.74) & total attacks (2,637) and is 10th in career digs (568).
Fried is coming off being named a First Team All-WAC selection in 2025 after leading the WAC and ranking 48th nationally with 137.0 total blocks.
Entering this season as the program's career leader in hitting percentage at .317, Fried also currently sits third in program history in total blocks (279.0) & block assists (234.0) and is fourth in solo blocks (45.0).
Seniors (5)
A decorated and experienced group of Trailblazers, the senior class consists of outside hitter
Tessa Treanor, setter
Marley Roe, libero
Mya Laufiso, opposite hitter
Nana Asiata and newcomer
Addyson McArthur, an opposite hitter transfer from Southern Utah.
Entering her third season at Utah Tech, Treanor has played in 53 matches & 188 sets over the last two seasons and tallied a pair of double-doubles in the 2025 WAC Tournament to earn All-WAC Tournament honors.
Joining Treanor on the All-WAC Tournament Team was Roe & Asiata, who enter their fourth & third seasons at Utah Tech, respectively.
Roe finished fourth in the WAC last season in assists per set (5.83) & enters this season sixth in career assists (1,394), 10th in assists per set (5.14) and 11th in service aces (65) & digs (542).
Asiata ranked second on the team last season with 183 kills last season and has played in 52 matches & 182 sets over the last two seasons for the Trailblazers.
Laufiso finished third in the WAC last season in digs (391) and enters her fourth season as a Trailblazer sixth in career digs (953) & 12th in service aces (64).
Finally, McArthur is coming off playing in 23 matches & making 21 starts for the Thunderbirds in 2025 ranking second on the team in kills per set (1.96) and third in kills (159) and has also spent time at both Salt Lake CC & Laramie CC.
Juniors (7)
The largest group of Trailblazers is split between four returners and three newcomers. Led by opposite hitter
Sydney Reese, the returners also inlcude libero
Kaleinani Watson, middle blocker
Lusia Langi and defensive specialist
Mahealani Ikei.
Reese, who has played in 53 career matches & 199 sets, ranked fourth in the WAC in blocks (93.0) and was seventh in blocks per set (0.97) while Watson saw action in 25 matches & 80 sets last season and finished fourth on the team with 161 digs.
Langi, who earned WAC All-Freshman Team honors in 2024, played in 12 matches & 20 sets last season and totaled 11 blocks & 22 kills while Ikei saw her first action as a Trailblazer last season playing in 10 matches & 23 sets.
On the newcomer side, the Trailblazers add middle blockers
Cass Klapp from Snow College &
Shaylee Dahle out of Salt Lake CC. Klapp played in 57 matches over the last two seasons as a Badger while Dahle saw action in 48 matches over the last two seasons as a Bruin.
The final addition is outside hitter
Mia Lundberg, an outside hitter from San Diego Mesa College from Templeton, Calif. Lundberg was named the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference MVP & AVCA Second Team All-American in 2025 and spent the spring of 2025 playing beach volleyball at San Jose State.
Sophomores (3)
With no freshman on this year's team, the Trailblazers return one sophomore in setter
Tehanie Waters, who earned All-WAC Freshman Team honors after ranking second on the team with 381 assists & 3.97 assists per set last season.
A pair of sophomore newcomers arrive in outside hitters
Cale Torgerson and
Annalyse Shimada. A transfer from Eastern Arizona College, Torgerson tallied 358 digs & 312 kills and finished third on the team with 40 service aces last season.
Shimada, a native of Kanarrville, Utah, played in 18 games for the Trailblazer women's basketball team in 2025-26, and will now transition over to volleyball after earning All-Region & All-State honors at Cedar High School and was the Region 9 block leader as a senior in 2024.
Schedule
After opening the season in Orem against Utah Valley, Oregon State & Utah, the Trailblazers head to this islands of Hawaii to take on Hawaii, UC San Diego and Loyola Marymount on Sept. 3-6 at the OUTRIGGER Invitational.
After a weekend in California taking on San Jose State (Sept. 11) & UC Irvine (Sept. 12) at the UC Irvine Invitational, the Trailblazers return home for their first two home matches of the season against UC Riverside (Sept. 18) & Chicago State (Sept. 19) at the Utah Tech Tournament.
The Trailblazers open their first season in the Big Sky at Portland State on Sept. 24, host Southern Utah for their Big Sky home opener on Sept. 29 and wrap up the regular season with Senior Night hosting Portland State on Nov. 20.
The Big Sky Tournament is set for Nov. 23-25 hosted by Northern Arizona in Flagstaff at Rolle Activity Center.
Ticket Information
All 11 home matches at Burns Arena will be
free admission this season as volleyball, mens' & women's soccer and softball will all be non-ticketed sports in 2026-27.
