NEWBERG, Ore. -- As  George Fox women's volleyball coach Emily Davis puts it, there are unlimited possibilities for a team with no expectations.

And a young team that no one in the conference is ready for can shock the world.

After two consecutive NWC Tournament appearances featuring the same cast of characters, the Bruin women's volleyball squad had a rebuilding season after losing the majority of their sets played in 2025, finishing the year 7-15 (4-12 NWC). Now, those "inexperienced" players who took over from a large group of grad students are back with another year under their belt in 2026.

Two years removed from that massive graduating class of seven, the Bruins have just one senior in 2026: Gracie Bearden. The leader of the Fox team the past season, Bearden is a two-time All-NWC athlete who led the conference in Service aces in 2025, and was the team's leader in both kills (180) and digs (264). 

The do-it-all hitter for the Bruins will have new opportunities in her last season in Newberg, with Davis toying with moving her to the right side. No matter where she plays, the Bruin head coach knows her leader will answer the call. 

"[Gracie is] extremely dependable," The 10th-year head coach said. "She will be influential on our team in all ways, and I think she's excited to have some pressure during practices to keep her accountable. Gracie is going to thrive this year."

The pressure Davis speaks of? It comes from all 16 other players, but especially the incoming class of seven freshmen. This large group has excited the coaching staff and looks to make an immediate impact.

Several of these freshmen saw the floor extensively in the Bruins' opening exhibition win over Pacific Union. Audrey Schmitt, whose sister Breanna is an All-American runner for the GFU cross country team, led the Bruins with 13 kills, while Crater High's single-season assist record holder Kendall Stidham led the team with 23 assists. 

Add in Eden Cha (six kills), Madelyn Gunn (five kills), Makena Phillips (four kills), Linnea Vargason (two aces), and Taylor Miller (two blocks), and all of the seven freshmen left some sort of mark in the victory over the Pioneers. Such an impact just three weeks into the season doesn't go unnoticed by Davis.

"The freshman class has spoiled me," Davis said, " They're very responsible. They're great students. They've just made my job easy. They're going to be an influential group in their four years here."

But it's not just freshmen who are impressing early: it's everyone. For the sophomore group, Addison Goff returns after battling through injury in the final month of her freshman season; in the game against PUC, she led the team with 10 digs. Right side hitter Hannah Huffman received more time on the court towards the back half of 2025, peaking with an eight-kill game against Pacific, and led the team with three blocks on Sunday.

Rounding out the sophomores are Lexi Herber, Bridget Philipsen, who had her first unofficial kills in the scrimmage, and LeAna Cimarra.

" I actually can't believe it's only year two for these girls," Emily Davis said. "We spent so much time together this spring, it felt to me that they were past their freshman year. It's great that it's only their sophomore year, though, because that means there's more time with them to develop them —and they're already making a ton of progress."

Jordan Hahn may have changed her number for the third straight season (18 ? 8 ? 11), but she hasn't changed her hard-hitting attack in the middle. The junior, who was All-NWC Second Team as a freshman, has hit .239 in her career and is second on the team in returning kills (131), as well as first in blocks (77).

Along with Hahn in the junior class is libero Isabella Avila, who took over for one of the all-time digs leaders in Piper Hilgaertner in 2025 and led the team in total receptions, setting Chloe Wiersma, who was second on the squad in assists, and Laelie Rasmussen, who has bounced between DS and OH in her time. All four of the junior class are players that the Bruin coaching staff looks to count on come game day.

" Junior year feels like the year things are fitting together, and they're all figuring it out," Davis said, " We'll be able to rely on all four of them in some way, shape, or form this season."

One thing that will be new for all players and coaches is several key rule changes for Division III volleyball in 2026. Some may seem superficial — teams now switch sides after two sets rather than after every set — but others do fundamentally change the strategy of the game.

In preparation for the way the NCAA Tournament will be played, the Northwest Conference added official media timeouts for the 2026 season, with a one-minute, 15-second timeout after a team hits 15 points. Meanwhile, the total substitution number rises as well; after playing with 15 subs per set for the past 20 seasons, Division III will move to 18 subs per set.

" I am curious to see how [the substitution rule] goes," Davis said. "I don't always use all of our subs, but I want to challenge myself to use a lot of subs if we have them. That will just allow better players on the court more often, and we will have a talented bench this year."

While the Bruins have their one exhibition with the new rules under their belt, they will begin the season with seven tournament games to start their season — with their first six games all being doubleheader days. Fox will begin with the annual Oregon Classic Tournament, hosting a day Friday before traveling to Willamette on Saturday, and then taking off to Texas for the Southwestern Invitational.

So many games in short order give Davis and her coaching staff a chance to try out plenty of new things before — something the veteran coach knows is ultra-important.

" They're preparation for conference," Davis said, "And as we know in our conference, at least in volleyball, it's very difficult to get an at-large bid at the end of the season. It has been proven, even if you win big matches in preseason, it's still really hard to get that extra bid."

With the NWC becoming a one-bid league over the past few seasons thanks to the introduction of the NPI ranking system for tournament spots, it becomes even more important to reach a top four seed and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

As it stands, the Bruins are projected to finish in sixth place in the NWC coaches' preseason poll, on the outside looking in for the conference tourney. However, Davis knows that a young team with nothing to lose can be very, very dangerous.

" There are infinite possibilities with a young team," Davis said. "There is a lack of expectations, a lack of fear of all the unknowns that sometimes you can get with returning player. I think the lack of pressure we have this season combined with the young talent is really exciting. Plus, they're an incredibly fun group to be around."

The young Bruins will have a chance to forge expectations of their own on Friday, September 4 as they kick off the season against the Hamline Pipers at 2:00 pm.

Live stream, live stats, and ticket information for the game are available on the GFU Athletics website.