Georgia Southern Opens 2026 Season at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic

Saturday, August 29

Manoa, HI

1 a.m.

Georgia Southern University

Hawaii

Georgia Southern Opens 2026 Season at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic

8/27/2026 12:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Watch (MW+)Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)

MANOA, HI – Georgia Southern volleyball opens the 2026 season on the road competing in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Manoa, Hawaii. The Eagles face off against host Hawaii, San Diego, and Baylor in one of the nation's most prestigious volleyball arenas. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. HST / 1 a.m. EST and will be broadcast live on Mountain West Plus and locally in Hawaii on K5.

FIRST SERVE

Eighth year head coach Chad Willis enters the 2026 season seeking to become the all-time wins leader at Georgia Southern. During his time at the helm of the Eagles, Willis has amassed 109 victories in Statesboro and will begin the hunt toward the top spot held by Kerry Messersmith who recorded 116.
ALOHA! Georgia Southern volleyball takes to the court for its season opener on Friday evening for the first time many of the Eagles have stepped foot on the island to compete.
A three-time First Team All-Sun Belt recipient, Reagan Barth, begins her fourth season with the Eagles on Friday, sitting fifth all-time in Georgia Southern history with 1,159 kills. Following her 2025 campaign, she was awarded as an AVCA First-Team All-Region recipient following her two-time Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. She finished ninth in the country in attacks per set (12.25), 34th in kills per set (4.33), and 31st in points per set (4.86). The Lenexa, Kansas, native notched a career high 37 kills vs. Louisiana, one off the school record of 38 and registered as one of the top single-game performances in D1 as well as Sun Belt volleyball history.
Third year defensive specialist, Maddie Cugino, begins her second season with Georgia Southern, after earning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors and being named a third-team All-Sun Belt Conference award winner. Cugino ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference and 22nd nationally in digs per set, posting a career high 36 digs on the road at Troy. The Columbus, Ohio, native spent her first collegiate season at Gonzaga, before joining the Eagles in 2025.
Georgia Southern volleyball has grown since the end of the 2025 season, adding three new additions to the roster through the portal and signing day. All three Eagles were on campus and went through spring and summer workouts, as Beka Pfefferkorn, Grace Thomas, and Bella Ekeler (early enrollee) have trained with the Eagles since January. Pfefferkorn arrived in Statesboro following her first season at FIU. The Cypress, Texas, native appeared in 103 sets over 30 matches for the Panthers, tallying a career best 18 kills against Stetson. Thomas competed at Central Michigan for two seasons, before joining the Eagles this season. The Dublin, Ohio, native produced 205 total kills and 69 blocks in her second year with the Chippewa's, earning Academic All-MAC honors, as well as CSC All-District nods. Thomas earned a spot on the MAC All-Freshman team her first year, while being named a second team All-MAC recipient. The final Eagle to join the nest for the 2026 season, Ekeler was an early enrollee as a freshman. In her prep days, Ekeler competed for Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, earning two-time District Setter of the Year honors and 2024 District MVP and Tournament MVP. She was named the 2024 Knox News Player of the Year and 2024 5 Star Preps Player of the Year. A talented young star whose family holds a rich lineage of success, Ekeler's father, Mike, played football at Kansas State and is in his 27th season coaching football, including 23 years at the FBS level and 21 years at a Power 4 University. He has coached in every power conference, while serving on staff at six of the 12 winningest programs in college football history (Oklahoma, Nebraska, Georgia, Tennessee, USC, and LSU).
A duo of Georgia Southern volleyball student-athletes was named to the Sun Belt Preseason Award list, as the Eagles were tabbed to finish second in the preseason poll behind James Madison in the East Division. Third year Maddie Cugino was named the Sun Belt Preseason Libero of the Year, while fourth year Reagan Barth earned a spot of the All-Sun Belt Team. Cugino, a native of Columbus, Ohio, made an immediate impact as the Libero for the Eagles in her first season in Statesboro. She earned a third team All-Sun Belt honor and claimed a Defensive Player of the Week award throughout the 2025 season. She led the team defensively with 485 digs (4.80 per set) and ranked second in the league, while finished 22nd nationally in that category. She tallied a career high 36 digs on Oct. 10 at Troy and registered 25 matches of double-digit digs. Cugino recorded 20-plus digs in nine matches, adding 99 assists and 17 service aces. Barth, a three-time All-Sun Belt recipient, enters her fourth season with the Eagles after producing the fifth most kills in Georgia Southern volleyball history (1,159). Her efforts collected her an AVCA first team All-Region award and she was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week twice. Barth played in all 28 matches and 104 sets for the Eagles, accumulating a total of 450 kills, 30 set assists, and 28 service aces in 28 games. She contributed 270 digs, 10 solo blocks, and total of 45 blocks throughout the year, while adding a season-high 37 kills against Louisiana, one shy of the school record registered as one of the top single-game performances in D1 and Sun Belt history. Barth ranked ninth in D1 in attacks per set (12.25), 34th in kills per set (4.33), and 31st in points per set (4.86), adding 23 matches of double-digit kills.