Michigan
Wake Forest
U-M to Open Season at Tribute to #10 in Cincinnati
8/27/2025 11:42:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team (0-0) will start the season with a road trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, to play in the Tribute to #10 Tournament. U-M's season opener comes on Saturday (Aug. 30) against Wake Forest (0-0) at 3 p.m. before playing host Cincinnati on Sunday (Aug. 31) at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ inside Fifth Third Arena.
Notes
• Last season, U-M was 18-13 with an 8-12 Big Ten record, finishing 10th in the conference. All nine teams ahead of the Wolverines made the NCAA Tournament. Michigan started the season 9-0 and improved to 12-1 through September. U-M pulled off Big Ten wins against Michigan State, Rutgers, UCLA, Ohio State, Washington, Iowa, Maryland and Northwestern.
• The Wolverines return five starters from last season and 13 players in total. U-M gets back its leader in kills, blocks, digs and assists from last season -- the only team in the Big Ten to do so and one of three Power Four teams. Michigan's returners are comprised of two graduate students, one senior, one redshirt-junior, three juniors, four sophomores and two redshirt-freshmen.
• Entering her sixth collegiate season, Allison Jacobs is back after her best season statistically. Jacobs led the Wolverines with 335 kills on a .243 hitting percentage and was fourth on the team in digs with 186. She tallied double-digit kills in 19 of the first 20 matches before she suffered an injury. She earned All-Big Ten first team and All-Big Ten Preseason honors.
• Junior setter Morgan Burke won the starting job midway through her freshman year and led the way with 1,168 assists last season -- more than 1,000 to the next closest Wolverine. Burke has racked up 1,656 total assists across her two seasons and is just 25 from entering the top 10 in program history.
• Senior middle blocker Serena Nyambio played in 30 of 31 matches last season and 82 over her three-year career. Last season, she totaled 14 solo blocks, 100 block assists for a team-leading 114 total blocks. Nyambio also tallied 203 kills on a .331 hitting percentage, averaging 1.78 kills per set. Over her three seasons, she has totaled 446 kills, 102 digs and 264 blocks for a total of 596.5 points.
• Having started all 31 matches last season as the team's libero, Maddi Cuchran is back for her fifth season. Last season, Cuchran led the team with 454 digs averaging 3.88 per set and had a .937 reception percentage on 607 total attempts. Cuchran was one of just three players to start all 31 matches -- joining Burke and graduated middle blocker Jacque Boney.
• The 13 returners are joined by five newcomers. Jacyn Bamis joined Hawaii as a middle blocker graduate student, where she was an All-Mountain West honorable mention selection last season. Sydney Schnichels joins as an opposite hitter from Minnesota and was a former top-20 recruit. Three freshmen join the ranks as well with libero Hannah Brady, middle blocker Ece Senyapici and outside hitter Leni Stanton-Parker.Â
• Head coach Erin Virtue returns for her third season with the Wolverines and is joined by returning assistant coach Nick Clark and performance analyst Matt Adams. Three new staff members will make their debuts on the Michigan sidelines with assistant coaches Kassie Kadera and Bjarne Huus and director of operations Kenzie Shand. Kadera joins the Wolverines from Memphis and was an All-MAC setter with Toledo. Huss comes from Long Beach State, where he coached for two seasons after winning a national championship as a player for the Beach.
• Wake Forest finished last season 13-18 and 5-15 in the ACC. The Deamon Deacons were picked to finish 15th in the ACC Preseason Poll and will open their season on Friday against Cincinnati.
• Cincinnati had a 14-15 overall record last season and a 5-13 record in the Big 12. The Bearcats were picked to finish 13th out of 15 teams in the Big 12 preseason poll and will open their season at home on Friday.
