With the 2026 AVCA First Serve event officially over, it’s time to put together my All-First Serve team. Like last year, I’m limiting myself to choosing only one player per team. This was a fairly easy exercise last year, but it proved a bit more challenging this time around. Still, there were bright spots from every team, and I’ve managed to put together what would be a ridiculously dominant squad if it were real.
Setter: Charlie Fuerbringer, Wisconsin
Choosing my setter was the hardest part, because I had to debate if I wanted to use up my Pitt pick on Izzy Starck or Olivia Babcock. Spoiler alert: I chose Babcock. But while I’ll maintain that Starck was the best setter from the event, Charlie Fuerbringer was also great. Even though Wisconsin was swept in its first match of the season, the team’s woes were not due to Fuerbringer, whose sets were well-placed even with the passing taking her off the net. And she’s a big reason why the team’s result was much better during their sweep over Louisville, in which Fuerbringer set the team to a .327 efficiency and recorded a career-high six kills herself.
Outside Hitter #1: Brooklyn DeLeye, Kentucky
With a healthy knee and her devastating top-spin serve back, Brooklyn DeLeye looks poised to have her best season yet—which is saying something, considering she was the 2024 SEC Player of the Year. Her hitting percentage from the event ended up under .200 due to running into the buzzsaw that was the Pitt Panthers, but her all-around game and performance against Wisconsin are what earns her a spot here. After two matches, she’s just shy of 30 points on the season thanks to her attacking and serving, the latter of which is how Kentucky managed to sneak away with a set against Pitt.
Outside Hitter #2: Chloe Chicoine, Louisville
Louisville didn’t finish the weekend the way they wanted to, but there’s a lot to be excited about based on how Chloe Chicoine played. In the opener against Texas A&M, Chicoine put down 19 kills on an extremely efficient .421 hitting percentage, and followed that up with a team-high 11 points against Wisconsin. In both matches, she was one dig shy of a double-double, and—despite some uncharacteristic reception struggles against Wisconsin—has quickly reminded everyone why she’s one of the most well-rounded outside hitters in the NCAA.
Middle Blocker #1: Favor Anyanwu, SMU
The start that Favor Anyanwu has had this season suggests that she may just be back and better than ever. In just one three-set match, she put together seven kills on a .500 efficiency and seven block assists (four of which would have been hers and hers alone by professional or international-level stat-keeping). The way she patrols the net and flies laterally from pin to pin is mesmerizing to watch, and even when she doesn’t immediately read the opponent’s play, she’s so fast to seal the block that it rarely seems to matter.
Middle Blocker #2: Nya Bunton, Texas
Perhaps the lone bright spot of Texas’s first match of the season was Nya Bunton. Amidst the chaos of the Longhorns’ “top-spin or die” serving approach and unique 6-2 system, Bunton was a steady force against Arizona State, putting together a team-high 13.5 points on the back of nine kills and eight blocks (one of which was a solo). Her hitting wasn’t quite as efficient against a scrappy Marquette team, but she still notched five kills and seven blocks, helping her team secure their first win of the season.
Opposite: Olivia Babcock, Pitt
My sincerest apologies to Rachel Fairbanks, but she has been dethroned as the Queen of Setting Olivia Babcock. Pitt newcomer Izzy Starck has managed to somehow make Olivia Babcock look even better than she has in the past, which is saying something when you remember we’re talking about the back-to-back National Player of the Year. For Babcock’s part, it’s not like she even needs someone as elite as Starck (or Fairbanks) to excel. After two matches, her excellent attacking, serving, and blocking have earned her 44.5 points on the year, for an average of over six per set. Her hitting efficiency sits at a fantastic .368, and she’s also averaging two digs per set. If she keeps this up, the three-peat is a real possibility.
Libero: Gabi Rodriguez, Texas A&M
This weekend certainly wasn’t the start that the reigning national champions were hoping for, but they have a lot to be excited about for the future, starting with their outstanding freshman libero. From the moment the match against Louisville began, it was clear that Gabi Rodriguez was something special. In the team’s season opener and her first official match as an Aggie, she demonstrated an excellent ability to read the opposing offense as well as plenty of defensive hustle. Over the course of two matches, she racked up 24 digs (3.4 per set), four assists, and passed (by my own scoring) a 2.37.
Honorable mentions: Charlotte Moriarty, Xavier and Carson Tyler, Marquette
I didn’t end up selecting them as one of my outside hitters, but I wanted to give a quick shoutout to both of these players. Against Pitt, Charlotte Moriarty achieved a career-high 17 kills in just three sets, and she did so on a .325 efficiency. Her smart shot selection as well as her ability to absolutely rip the ball both contributed to making that match much more of a battle than it was expected to be. Later on Monday night, we saw another Big East superstar in the making in Carson Tyler. Having transferred from Ball State after being named the MAC Player of the Year, Tyler immediately demonstrated why she was an Honorable Mention on the AVCA All-American list last season. On the back of 18 kills, nine digs, two blocks, and an ace, she helped Marquette push Texas all the way to five sets, and could very well be on her way to tearing up her conference the way she did at Ball State.
