We Speak Volleyball

Fayetteville State Run Rocky Mount Start to Finish and Leave With Back to Back CIAA Titles

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

The Fayetteville State Broncos volleyball team at the Rocky Mount Event Center

The Fayetteville State Broncos pose together at the championship bracket after winning their second straight CIAA title at the Rocky Mount Event Center. Photo by Deadeye Visuals.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Championships are supposed to test a team somewhere. Over three days at the Rocky Mount Event Center, the Fayetteville State Broncos kept waiting for the test to land, and it never did. The top seed swept Bluefield State on Monday, swept Elizabeth City State on Tuesday, and swept Livingstone on Wednesday, nine sets played and nine sets won, to take the 47th CIAA Volleyball Championship and the program’s second straight title. This was not one player’s week. It was a roster, a bench and a coaching staff moving like one team from the first serve to the last ace.

A team that would not blink

*Fayetteville State and Elizabeth City State battle at the net during Tuesday’s semifinal. Photo by Deadeye Visuals.*

The closest thing to danger came in Tuesday’s semifinal. Fayetteville State hit .417 while rolling through the first set 25-11, Giovanna Teixeira serving four aces inside a 10 point run. Then Elizabeth City State, a young team starting three freshmen and two sophomores, pushed all the way to set point at 24-20 in the second. The Broncos answered the way complete teams answer: the block closed twice late, the serve receive steadied, and Fayetteville State scored seven of the final eight points to steal the set 27-25. When the third set tilted 15-8 against them, the Broncos closed it on a 17-6 run and finished the sweep 25-11, 27-25, 25-21.

Everybody on the roster ate

*Semifinal action at the Rocky Mount Event Center. Photo by Deadeye Visuals.*

The Broncos’ numbers tell a team story. In the semifinal, Kemyah Harris put down 15 kills, Teixeira ran the floor with 19 assists, 4 aces and 8 digs, Melissa Gonzalez added 12 assists of her own, and libero Jasmine Culp dug a match high 19 balls as Fayetteville State held Elizabeth City State to a .057 hitting percentage. In Wednesday’s final against Livingstone, the load spread again: Harris with 9 kills, freshman McKenna Miller with 8, Teixeira with 21 assists, 3 aces and 11 digs, and Culp, who dug a match high 26 balls, serving the ace that ended the championship. Four Broncos, Harris, Teixeira, Miller and Mya Hejl, were named to the All Tournament Team, and Harris was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Elizabeth City State’s season closed with Kendall Washington’s double double, 11 kills and 10 digs, and 23 assists from Golden Brown.

Livingstone’s historic week

Across the net Wednesday stood the tournament’s other story. Livingstone reached the CIAA championship match for the first time in program history, in a school record season for wins, sweeping Bowie State 25-22, 25-15, 25-16 in the semifinals behind 14 kills from Rookie of the Year Hailey Henriquez, 12 kills and 2 aces from Offensive Player of the Year Oliwia Jaroszewicz, and 10 kills with a team high 6 blocks from Da’Maia Bryant. Bowie State’s own run had produced the week’s signature upset, Monday’s four set takedown of second seeded Virginia State. In the final, Fayetteville State’s depth told: 36 kills, 6 aces and 8 blocks while holding Livingstone to a .047 hitting percentage in a 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 finish.

What back to back means for this program

*The Broncos at the championship bracket inside the Rocky Mount Event Center. Photo by Deadeye Visuals.*

The title is Fayetteville State’s second in a row and the third back to back run in program history, in the school’s 18th championship match appearance since 1983. Head coach Chynna Hunt’s Broncos finish 25-4 and take the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Championship, with the regional field revealed on the selection show Sunday, November 15 at 10 p.m. ET. Livingstone closes at 29-6 with its first final in school history. Deadeye Visuals was on the floor for all three days in Rocky Mount for We Speak Media, and his gallery from the championship run is below.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Deadeye Visuals.

Florida Is the SEC Volleyball Regular-Season Champion at 13-1 in Updated Standings Through November 13

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2026

We Speak Media

Missouri and Georgia players battle at the net during an SEC women's volleyball match

Florida left no doubt on Friday night. The Gators’ 3-1 win at Mississippi State moved them to 13-1 in SEC play and made them the outright 2026 SEC regular-season champions, with Vanderbilt and Kentucky two matches back at 11-3 and the Road to Savannah seeding set behind them heading into Sunday’s matches.

The updated standings and statistics for the 2026 SEC volleyball season cover matches through November 13.

2026 VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS (SEC / Overall)
Florida# — 13-1 SEC (.929), 22-2 overall (.917), W9 — SEC Regular-Season Champion
Vanderbilt — 11-3 (.786), 20-3 (.870), W5
Kentucky — 11-3 (.786), 19-5 (.792), W4
Tennessee — 10-4 (.714), 19-5 (.792), W3
Texas — 10-4 (.714), 14-8 (.636), W1
Missouri — 9-5 (.643), 16-10 (.615), W2
Texas A&M — 8-6 (.571), 15-11 (.578), W1
Mississippi State — 7-7 (.500), 17-8 (.680), L3
Georgia — 7-7 (.500), 15-9 (.625), L2
LSU — 6-8 (.429), 11-12 (.478), L1
Oklahoma — 5-9 (.357), 12-11 (.522), L2
Arkansas — 5-9 (.357), 13-12 (.520), L1
Auburn — 4-10 (.286), 14-12 (.538), L1
Alabama — 2-12 (.143), 10-13 (.435), W1
South Carolina — 2-12 (.143), 9-15 (.375), L6
Ole Miss — 2-12 (.143), 8-17 (.320), L12
# — SEC Regular-Season Champion

THIS WEEK IN THE SEC
Wednesday, November 11: Alabama 3, Auburn 1 [SECN]
Friday, November 13: Vanderbilt 3, Arkansas 1 [SECN+]; Florida 3, Mississippi State 1 [SECN+]; Tennessee 3, Georgia 0 [SECN+]; Kentucky 3, South Carolina 0 [SECN+]; Texas A&M 3, LSU 0 [SECN+]; Texas 3, Ole Miss 0 [SECN+]; Missouri 3, Oklahoma 2 [SECN+]

Sunday, November 15: Florida at Alabama [SECN+] 2 p.m. CT; Missouri at Arkansas [SECN+] 2 p.m. CT; Auburn at Mississippi State [SECN+] 2 p.m. CT; Kentucky at Georgia [SECN+] 2 p.m. ET; LSU at Texas [SECN+] 1 p.m. CT; Ole Miss at Texas A&M [SECN+] 12 p.m. CT; Vanderbilt at Oklahoma [SECN+] 2 p.m. CT; Tennessee at South Carolina [SECN+] 1 p.m. ET

THE ROAD TO SAVANNAH (potential seeding through matches of November 13): Teams will be seeded No. 1 through No. 16 in the bracket based upon the final regular season Conference standings. Teams that finish No. 1 through No. 4 in the final regular season standings shall receive first- and second-round byes and teams that finish No. 5 through No. 8 will receive a first-round bye.
1. Florida — 13-1, .929
2. Kentucky — 11-3, .786 (defeated Vanderbilt on September 23)
3. Vanderbilt — 11-3, .786
4. Texas — 10-4, .714 (defeated Tennessee on September 25)
5. Tennessee — 10-4, .714
6. Missouri — 9-5, .643
7. Texas A&M — 8-6, .571
8. Mississippi State — 7-7, .500 (defeated Georgia on October 9)
9. Georgia — 7-7, .500
10. LSU — 6-8, .429
11. Arkansas — 5-9, .357 (defeated Oklahoma on October 30)
12. Oklahoma — 5-9, .357
13. Auburn — 4-10, .286
14. Alabama — 2-12, .143 (11 FIVB points; Ole Miss and South Carolina each have 6)
15. South Carolina — 2-12, .143 (defeated Ole Miss on October 18)
16. Ole Miss — 2-12, .143

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK — SUMMARY: The SEC Volleyball Players of the Week presented by Allstate, already covered in full on We Speak Media, are led by Florida’s Logan King, who earned both SEC Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week honors, and LSU’s Jurnee Robinson, the Offensive Player of the Week after a career-high 35 kills against Arkansas and her 2,000th career point against Oklahoma. Kentucky’s Kassie O’Brien and Vanderbilt’s Avery Scoggins are the Co-Setters of the Week, and Kentucky’s Gracison Saylors and Tennessee’s Jolene Oddo are the Co-Freshmen of the Week.