WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Junior Kenna Wollard of the Purdue women’s volleyball team was named one of 14 semifinalists for the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Year, presented by Nike.
Following a stellar start to the season, Wollard came onto the scene as an addition to the Watch List with teammate Taylor Anderson. Un-touted in preseason awards, the Dunlap, Illinois native made a statement immediately, leading Purdue and the Big Ten in kills to start the year. The Boilermaker, who played the last two seasons on the right side, returned to her natural playing position as an outside hitter for the 2025 season.
Wollard, who generated eight percent of Purdue’s total points last year, ranks in the top-15 in the nation in both kills (394) and kills per set (4.58), which is on track to rank No. 7 in Purdue single-season history.
This season, Wollard has posted seven 20+ kill matches, including 33 at No. 24 UCLA while hitting .369% in the reverse sweep victory and 26 kills at Michigan State. With the battle at UCLA, Wollard became just the fourth Boilermaker in history to produce as many kills in a match, joining Purdue greats Bev Krupa (1998), Aneska Arosarena (1998 & 1999) and Annie Drews (2014) to accomplish the feat. As a result of her performance, Wollard earned National Player of the Week and her second Big Ten Player of the Week award of the year.
The junior has led Purdue to second place in the Big Ten standings, a No. 9 national ranking, a program-record three reverse sweeps – two of which were against ranked opponents, one of its best starts in program history (19-3, 10-2 Big Ten record), an undefeated record in all road matches (10-0 away, 4-0 neutral site), six wins against ranked opponents this season, and a No. 6 RPI ranking, believed to be the best in program history, all while the Boilermakers were predicted to finish seventh in the Big Ten with no All-Big Ten preseason accolades.
The AVCA announced the first seven National Player of the Year semifinalists today, and will release its second group of seven tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET. Four finalists from the list will be selected on Monday, December 15 with the reveal of the National Player of the Year on Friday, December 19 during the AVCA Convention before the National Championship.
Wollard and the Boilermakers have just eight matches remaining in the regular season, with six taking place in West Lafayette. This weekend, Purdue will host the No. 25 Penn State tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. ET followed by Iowa on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.