LONG BEACH, Calif. – April 15, 2026 – The final stage is set in Long Beach, and it took everything for both teams to get here. LOVB Austin and LOVB Salt Lake arrive in the 2026 LOVB Championship after surviving semifinal battles that came down to golden sets. Now, with a title on the line, they meet in a two-match series that could once again require a decisive golden set to crown a champion.
Little separates the two squads. They finished tied for third in the regular season standings at 10-10 and split their four meetings. Only three points separated them during those head-to-head matches. Salt Lake surged early in the season, starting 8-1 before a midyear malaise brought on partly due to injuries. Austin, meanwhile, found its rhythm late, closing the regular season on a three-match win streak to clinch a playoff berth.
2026 LOVB Championship Schedule
Last year’s LOVB Finals champions, Austin’s title defense has been powered by its pin attack and ability to grind out five-set wins. Madisen Skinner led the way with 332 points and 297 kills, both marks No. 2 in the league, while Logan Eggleston added 283 points and a LOVB-high 26 aces. They are supported by Asjia O’Neal, one of the league’s best offensive middles, who finished with 156 kills and 49 blocks, while Molly McCage added 99 kills and 33 blocks.
While Brie O’Reilly started at setter during 16 matches, Carli Lloyd has guided the offense since the winning streak began on March 26. In the backcourt, libero Kotoe Inoue leads the league with 3.57 digs per set and broke the single match record with 34 digs March 26 vs. LOVB Madison.
Salt Lake counters with efficiency, depth and one of the league’s most balanced attacks. The team averaged 16.9 points and 13.6 kills per set while hitting .264, and they have several hitters who can carry the load. First Team LOVB Icon Alexa Gray leads the group with 253 points and 223 kills (3.84 kills/set), but support comes from every position. Claire Hoffman and Heidy Casanova each provide steady production on the pins, while middle Serena Gray has been one of the league’s most efficient hitters, posting a .477 mark with 152 kills.
That balance begins with Jordyn Poulter, whose 11.4 assists per set leads the league. Defensively, LOVB Libero of the Year Manami Kojima is seemingly everywhere, having made a league-record 256 digs this season.
Salt Lake and Austin are the toughest serving teams in the league, posting opponent in-system percentages of .471 and .479, respectively, the best marks in the league, and Salt Lake’s 86 aces were second-best. Salt Lake holds the edge in hitting efficiency (.264-.246) and transition offense (.288-.260) while Austin counters with a stronger blocking presence (2.28 blocks per set – 2.14) and better passing (.536 in-system to .514).
They’re evenly matched, they’re peaking at the right time, they’ve got history in providing thrilling postseason matches (Austin reverse-swept Salt Lake in the 2025 quarterfinals); Austin and Salt Lake are primed to provide a classic 2026 LOVB Championship series.
They Said It
- “It would be really cool. Obviously, this is a new league, so we’d be making history doing that, and it’s really cool to create a legacy this early in a professional league and show what Austin volleyball is.”
- LOVB Austin’s Logan Eggleston on potentially winning a second consecutive league title
- “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, everyone’s quality. Not just the six that are on the court, the 10 that end up coming through the court…That’s this league, you don’t get a night off, you battle with everyone.”
- LOVB Austin head coach Erik Sullivan on Austin’s potential LOVB Championship opponent after the match on Saturday, April 11
- “Those are the moments that we all work for every single day in the offseason, in practice, grinding throughout the season.You play or you work for those moments out there where you can put your head down and work and grind really hard, and then ultimately come out with a win with your teammates. This is what we all do it for.”
- LOVB Austin’s Asjia O’Neal on playing in the thrilling series finale and golden set against LOVB Atlanta last weekend.
- “The golden set? I literally started vibrating. My teeth were shaking and everything. There were definitely some nerves, overactivation. But luckily I had all my teammates there with a calming presence. It’s hard to be nervous when you have such seasoned, hardened pros around you.”
- LOVB Salt Lake’s Serena Gray on playing in last weekend’s golden set vs. LOVB Houston
- “A lot of this team was together last year – we only had two new additions. It was a goal of ours at the beginning of this season to win the championship. We've had quite the rollercoaster of a season, both in terms of injuries and then just our record. I mean, to start 8-1 and then finish 10-10, it's quite the flip. So, to come out of that really significant downswing and be playing our best right now and be in a viable position to reach the goals that we set is really cool. Knowing that our team is going to look dramatically different next year and we're not going to all be together, it's kind of like the last hurrah.”
- LOVB Salt Lake’s Jordyn Poulter on what it means to be in the LOVB Championship
By the Numbers
3 – Point differential between Austin at Salt Lake during their regular season series (Austin led 329-326)
5 – Olympians on Austin and Salt Lake’s rosters (Austin: Magdalena Jurczyk, Carli Lloyd; Salt Lake: Manami Kojima, Jordyn Poulter, Haleigh Washington)
6-2 – LOVB Austin’s record in five-set matches during the regular season, best in the league
45% – percent of matches where Madisen Skinner scored 20 or more points for LOVB Austin
256 — Digs by Manami Kojima, a new LOVB single season record
49 — Blocks by Asjia O’Neal, second-most in LOVB
.570 – Salt Lake’s team hitting efficiency January 22, a new LOVB record
75 – Attack attempts by Serena Gray without being blocked to open the season (until February 7 vs. Nebraska, fourth set)
43 – combined blocks the last time Austin and Salt Lake met in the postseason (April 10, 2025; LOVB Finals quarterfinal round)
