TOURNAMENT INFO: Sam Houston Bearkat Invitational

• Date: Friday, Aug. 28 vs. Miami (OH)-(10 a.m.)
• Date: Friday, Aug. 28 vs. Cal State Fullerton (4 p.m.)
• Date: Saturday, Aug. 29 vs. Sam Houston (2 p.m.)
• Location: Huntsville, Texas
• Venue: Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum
• Tournament Central

 
Complete McNeese Schedule
 
TUNE IN
Livestats
Miami (OH)
Cal State Fullerton
Sam Houston
 
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Sam Houston
 
 
LAKE CHARLES—The Tayler Gray era begins this weekend when McNeese volleyball opens the 2026 season at the Sam Houston Bearkat Invitational.
 
Gray will make her collegiate coaching debut on Friday, Aug. 28 when the Cowgirls face Miami (OH) at 10 a.m. in their opening match of the tournament.  The Cowgirls will also face Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. Friday before closing out tournament action against Sam Houston at 2 p.m. Saturday.  The matches will be the first of nine straight road matches to begin the season.
 
McNEESE TEAM NOTES
• Tayler Gray will make her collegiate coaching debut against Miami (OH) on Friday.
• When McNeese and Sam Houston face each other on Saturday, Tayler a Sam Houston Alum will face her mother, Brenda- a 44-year veteran.  They are the only mother-daughter D1 volleyball head coaching duo this season and are assumed to be the first in NCAA volleyball history.
• McNeese will play its first nine matches on the road.
• The Bearkat Invitational is one of three regular season tournaments for the Cowgirls.  McNeese will take part in the Rice Invitational I (Sept. 4-5) and will host its Cowgirl Classic (Sept. 17-19).
• The Cowgirls will play 11 home matches this season, eight of which will be conference matches
• McNeese was picked to finish ninth in the Southland Conference preseason poll
 
 
McNEESE PLAYER NOTES
• McNeese returns nine players from last season (Corynne Hausler, Carli Banks, Maleah Mutterback, Sophie Twigg, Bailey Foolkes, Mary-Alice Dohmann, Neal Grace Berry, Kayla
Wilson, Ava Henry) from last season and one from its 2024 team (Megan Grose).
• Three transfers will make their debut as Cowgirls (Gabbie Maldonado, Harmony Soles, Harmony Jackson)
• Four freshmen will make their collegiate debut (Sophia Tocmo, Danyele Wallace, Gaby Santiago, Aaniyah Kitchen)
• Senior Kayla Wilson returns as the Cowgirls kill leader after leading the teama year ago with 303 kills.
• Sophomore Ava Henry returns as the teams blocks leader after recording 51 in her rookie season last year.
• Sophomores Ava Henry and Bailey Foolkes are second generation Cowgirls. Ava's mother (Eunice) played basketball and her father (Adam), who serves as the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach, played football at McNeese. Foolkes' mother (Shannon) played volleyball while her father (Trevor) ran cross country for McNeese. Adam and Shannon are both McNeese Hall of Famers.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Miami (OH)
• Member of the MAC
• Picked to finish 6^th in the MAC preseason poll
• Enter the 2026 season following a 16-15 overall record and a 10-8 conference record.
• Dan Gwitt enters his third season with the Redhawks
• Formerly the head coach at Centenary (La.) in 2008-09
 
Cal State Fullerton
• Are a member of the Big West Conference
• Coming off an 8-22 overall record and a 3-15 conference record
• Nicky Cannon enters her second season with the Titans.
 
Sam Houston
• Member of CUSA
• Brenda Gray is entering her 44th year as a head coach, all at Sam Houston
• Enters the season with 787 career wins, ranking her among the Top 10 active NCAA Division I women's volleyball coaches.
• Is the mother of McNeese head coach Taylor Gray
• Part of the only D1 mother-daughter volleyball head coaches this season and possibly the first in NCAA history.
• Coming off an 11-18 overall record and 3-13 conference record last season
• Coached in the Southland Conference from 1987-2020 compiling the second most wins (608) in conference history.