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Michella Chester | krikya18.com | November 14, 2025

The best freshmen trios in women's college volleyball history

Kathryn Plummer's 83 best kills in her NCAA tournament career

We have a trio of outstanding freshmen at Texas volleyball this year: Cari Spears, who is in conversations as one of the front runners for National Freshman of the Year, Abby Vanderwall and Taylor Harvey. They combine for close to 9 points per set and have helped lead Texas to an incredible season so far.

Another freshman trio from this year leading their program to unprecedented heights at Indiana is Jaidyn Jager, Teodora KričkoviΔ‡ and Victoria Gray.

So with a couple of 2025 trios, here are some of the best freshman trios in recent history β€” and we are talking freshmen that made immediate impacts.

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You don't have to look too far back, as the Nebraska freshmen trio of Harper Murray, Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly was one of the best there is. We are talking three immediate starters that led their team all the way to the national championship match. They quickly became three of the best players in the country β€” not just freshmen β€” and they are still going. 

Let's also look to Texas again when Logan Eggleston was in her freshman season in 2018. Brionne Butler was a redshirt freshman but still counts, and then Sydney Petersen earned the starting libero spot. 

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There were two sets of freshmen trips in 2017 β€” at Kentucky, Madison Lilley was the eventual National Player of the Year, Avery Skinner β€” future Olympian β€” and Gabby Curry, who started at libero to start that season. And then at Wisconsin, the NFOTY that year was Dana Rettke who was accompanied by Sydney Hilley and Grace Loberg for an incredible freshman trio. 

Madison Lilley played for Kentucky

The only freshman trio to lead their team to a title on this list was in 2016, and is one of the best classes in volleyball history. And more than just a freshman trio, Stanford's Kathryn Plummer, Jenna Gray at setter, Morgan Hentz at Libero and Audriana Fitzmorris to make it a quartet. This freshman class led their team to a title their very first season β€” and then won two more. Plummer won freshman of the year, and then player of the year twice more. 

Of course, we have had plenty of freshmen duos in NCAA volleyball. Just to rattle off a few β€” Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge at Penn State, Haley Eckerman and Khat Bell at Texas, Ali Frantti and Haleigh Washington at Penn State and more.

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