Friday, August 29
Radford, VA
9:00 AM
Kansas City
vs
Marshall
Notes: Kansas City Begins Season at Radford Invitational
8/27/2025 2:45:00 PM | Volleyball
Roos will face Marshall, Radford on Friday, Eastern Michigan on Saturday
Kansas City Notes
- Kansas City Volleyball gets ready for first serve at the Radford Invitational on Friday morning as the Roos take on Marshall and Radford before matching up with Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
- Kansas City is 8-6 in season-opening matches in the Posey era with the Roos most recent opening win coming via a 3-0 result against Fairleigh Dickinson on August 25, 2023.
- In 2025, the Roos will host nine matches at the Swinney Center, eight of which will be against Summit League foes. This season Kansas City will be hitting the road early and often as the Roos will play matches across nine different states in 2025 including: Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado.
- Coach Posey will have three brand new assistant coaches to support the Roos 2025 effort from the sidelines in Izzy Enna from Missouri Western State, Cade Berg from Washburn and Toyosi Onabanjo from Kansas and the Omaha Supernovas.
- The Roos return seven players from the 2024 squad, including Kailee Deffebaugh, Maria Eduarda Motta, Nyle Mathis, Coco Buschhorn, Ryanne Wattree, Ledisi Kpea and Doga Eski. Together the group brings back 373 sets and 136 matches of prior experience to the table.
- Kpea and Deffebaugh come back as the Roos top two leaders in blocks, blocks per set and the top two out of three in block assists from the 2024 campaign. Additionally, the duo picked up some preseason hardware, being named to the Summit League Players to Watch ahead of the 2025 season.
- As a redshirt-freshman, Kpea racked up 77 blocks, 65 block assists and 0.97 blocks per set, leading the team in all three categories. Offensively, the Dallas, Tex. native is the Roos leading returner in kills with 130, points with 174.5 and sets played with 79 in the 2024 season.
- Deffebaugh was a staple on the Roos front line in 2024, totaling 55 blocks (2nd on team), 51 block assists (3rd on team) and 0.75 blocks per set (2nd on team) as a junior middle blocker. Offensively, Deffebaugh is the Roos second-leading returner in points with 140.5 and third-leading returner in kills with 98 in the 2024 season.
- Back for her fourth season in Kansas City, Mathis brings championship mettle to the floor as the senior outside hitter is one of two active Roos who was on KC's 2023 conference title team. Mathis is the Roos top leading returner in total attacks with 474 and second leading returner in kills at 125 and sets played at 76 last season.
- Buschhorn returns as a key piece to the Roos puzzle for 2025. In her freshman season, the Springfield, Mo. native compiled 112 assists which ranked second on the team. Additionally, Buschhorn is the Roos top returner in assists, assists per set at 2.49 and digs with 58 last season.
- Along with the seven returners, Kansas City brings in 10 newcomers to round out the 2025 roster. Included in that group are seven true freshmen as well one junior, senior and a graduate student that were all added in the transfer portal.
- Chloe Kaminski is a 5'8 graduate libero/defensive specialist who hails from Blue Springs, Mo. and previously played at Oklahoma.
- Alaina Larson is a 5'8 junior libero/defensive specialist from Hudson, Wisconsin who played last at Summit League foe Oral Roberts.
- Lyla Jones is a 5'7 senior setter who last played at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- Megan Lawson is a 5'5 freshman libero/defensive specialist from O'Fallon, Mo. and attended St. Dominic High School.
- Clarke Henry comes in as a 6'0 freshman outside hitter from Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Emry Brown arrives as a 6'0 freshman outside hitter from Bartlesville, Okla. and attended Bartlesville High School.
- Ashley Nielsen joins the Roos as a 5'9 freshman libero/defensive specialist from Bixby, Okla.
- Mia Weaver joins Kansas City as a 6'0 freshman outside hitter from Minnetrista, Minn., who attended both Minneapolis Southwest High School and Mound Westonka High School.
- Joining the Roos front line in 2025 will be 6'2 freshman middle blocker Stella Smith.
- Natalie Ptacek is a 6'0 freshman opposite hitter from Prescott, Wis. Ptacek attended Prescott High School.
- The Thundering Herd come into the 2025 season with a first year head coach in Heather Stout. In 2024, Stout was an assistant coach for Marshall in their 15-14 season. Stout boasts three years of prior head coaching experience at CUA where she compiled at 43-35 record and a season-best record of 20-13 in the 2023 season.
- In 2024, Marshall sported an above .500 record at 15-14 for the first time in four seasons. The Thundering Herd closed out the season with two victories over Southern Miss but finished in a tie for ninth place in the Sun Belt with a 6-10 conference record.
- Marshall has a veteran-laden roster of nine upperclassmen including five seniors, three juniors and one graduate student. Included in the Herd's returning mix are Audrey Geer who led the team in points and kills and Beatrice Ciccarelli who led the team in service aces in 2024.
- Radford posted a 10-17 overall record in 2024 with a Big South record of 6-8. The Highlanders season came to an end in the Big South Tournament Semifinals as they lost to top seeded High Point following a quarterfinals win over #5 UNC Asheville.
- Savannah Hammond leads Radford as a second year head coach after she became the program's 13th head coach in October 2024. Radford went 3-7 under her leadership as their official head coach. Hammond has a career record of 56-63 with four years of prior head coaching experience at Bluefield State.
- Out of Radford's 18 players on the 2025 roster, 11 of them are upperclassmen including a whopping seven seniors and four juniors. The Highlanders return their 2024 leaders in service aces in Sierra Moore and their digs leader in Miranda Howard.
- The Eagles were 13-19 in 2024 with a MAC record of 7-11 as Eastern Michigan finished the season on a seven game losing streak with defeats to Ball State, Central Michigan, Akron and Buffalo in that span.
- Eastern Michigan is led by third year head coach Kevin Foeman who has a record of 18-44 in two seasons with the Eagles. Before leading the Eagles, Foeman carried a 153-89 record in eight seasons from the Division II level.
- The Eagles have nearly an even split experience wise with 10 underclassmen and nine upperclassmen on their 2025 roster. EMU returns Ella Voorhees who led the team in assists and Ava Siefke who led the team in service aces in 2024.
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
RS/MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballVolleyball Highlights at Oral Roberts
Saturday, October 18
Volleyball Highlights vs. South Dakota
Wednesday, October 15
Volleyball Highlights at South Dakota State
Thursday, October 09
Volleyball Highlights vs. North Dakota
Saturday, October 04