Anderson, Heaney, Wollard Named to Player of the Year Preseason Watch List

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue volleyball’s trio of returning All-Americans: Taylor Anderson, Grace Heaney and Kenna Wollard were selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) awards committee as 2026 AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List honorees.

Purdue’s three honorees tie as the most in the Big Ten (joined by Nebraska) and rank as second-most in the nation (most: 4 by Kentucky). The trio helped lead Purdue to rank No. 1 in the nation last year in both team kills (1,834) and team assists (1,702), an effort led by Anderson’s 1,420 assists – a mark that led all Division I setters.

The Boilermakers are part of a 30-woman list that was announced over the past three days. The preseason watch list was compiled by the AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Awards Committee, which will identify the midseason addition of players in October, the semifinalists in November, the finalists in December and the final selection, which will be announced Friday, December 18.

In total the Boilermaker trio combined for 1,285.5 points, 232 blocks and 1,460 assists last season.

Looking ahead to the season, Purdue’s docket will include seven matches against a team with at least one National Player of the Year Watch List honoree. In total, the Boilermakers will face eight or 10 honorees, depending on if they face the SMU Mustangs (who has two named) or the Kentucky Wildcats (who have four named) in the Paradise Invitational tournament.

Tickets are set to go on-sale next week for the Big Ten Tournament in Fishers, Indiana next Monday, August 3 at 11 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster. Additionally, Purdue's home matches will open Tuesday, August 4 for John Purdue Club members, followed by Thursday, August 6 for the general public.

The squad will have two exhibition matches to prepare for the regular season, hosting Ball State on Friday, August 14 at 6 p.m. ET followed by Butler on Friday, August 21 at 6 p.m. ET. Both matches will be ticketed. The first official match will be played Friday, August 28 vs. Creighton in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the State Farm Volleyball Showcase.

2026 Opponents with Honorees:
Texas A&M: 2 (Natalie Ring, Kyndal Stowers)
TCU: 1 (Evan Hendrix)
Kentucky: 4 (Brooklyn DeLeye, Morgan Gaerte, Kassie O'Brien, Molly Tuozzo) or SMU: 2 (Favor Anyanwu, Suli Davis)
Wisconsin: 2 (Jaela Auguste, Charlie Fuerbringer)
Oregon: 1 (Alanah Clemente)
Nebraska: 3 (Andi Jackson, Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly)
Penn State: 1 (Kennedy Martin)

Wollard, coming off a breakout junior season in which she was named an AVCA National Player of the Year Semifinalist, a Second Team All-American and unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection, ranked sixth in the nation with 577 kills. The output was the most by any Boilermaker in 14 years, and third-most overall in Purdue single-season history. Meanwhile, her 637 total points checked in at seventh in the nation. Over the 2025 season, she totaled 23 matches with at least 15 kills, nine matches with at least 20 kills and five matches hitting at least .400%. Averaging 4.40 kills per set in 2025, Wollard also received AVCA National Player of the Week (Oct. 7) and Big Ten Player of the Week twice (Sep. 8 and Oct. 6).

Her highlights include 33 kills on a .369 clip for the reverse sweep at #24 UCLA, 23 kills on a .457 clip, 10 digs and a career-high-tying five blocks vs. No. 7/2-seed SMU in the Regional Semifinals, 19 kills on a .417 clip vs. No. 24 Penn State and 26 kills at Michigan State. Meanwhile, she helped guide Purdue to a Regional Finals appearance, playing some of her best volleyball yet, averaging 4.6 kills per set (69 total kills) on a .423 attack % during the NCAA tournament, while showing up defensively with 3.0 digs per set and .67 blocks per set.

Anderson, a fellow 2025 AVCA Second Team All-America, All-Big Ten First Team member and midseason pick-up for the 2025 AVCA Player of the Year Watch List, dished out the most assists by a Purdue setter in 20 years and on a .290 clip – the second-most efficient clip in program history. Over the season, the San Antonio native produced at least 30 assists in 17 matches and at least 50 assists in eight matches, all while guiding Purdue to 33 sets with the team hitting at a .400 attack % or better.

Over the NCAA tournament, Anderson set Purdue to an average .328 hitting %, among the most efficient of all NCAA tournament teams and 225 total kills, third among all tournament teams through Regionals play.

Heaney earned AVCA All-America Third Team and All-Big Ten First Team accolades as a redshirt sophomore. She helped lead Purdue’s offensive efficiency, posting nine matches hitting above .400 and four matches above .500 – including a .515 clip (19 kills, 2 errors, 33 attacks) against No. 10 SMU (9/14/25). In all, the opposite is the only player in the nation with three errorless performances with 30+ attacks in each, including the only Big Ten player with more than one performance of that caliber. Meanwhile, her 18 dig, 15 kill performance in the five-set win at Michigan State (10/31/25) included a career-high six blocks and an errorless attack on 37 swings (.405%).

Boasting a season full of efficient matches, Heaney shined at Rutgers with an errorless 18 kills on 31 attacks at Rutgers (.581%), an errorless 15 kills on 37 attacks at Michigan State with 18 digs and a .513 hitting % vs. Oregon with 21 kills and just one error on 39 swings. In total, Heaney racked up six double-doubles and had just two attack errors or fewer in 15 matches. The opposite led the Boilermakers in Big Ten play with a .329 average attack %.