The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2026-27 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
Throughout the offseason, Long Beach State women’s volleyball has focused on one phrase: servant leadership.
It’s a phrase that means to serve and develop team members above personal interests, focusing on inspiring others around you and maintaining selfless chemistry.
For third-year head coach Natalie Reagan, those two words perfectly encapsulate her team’s identity heading into the 2026 season.
“It’s a term that’s come up a lot in our program and from our girls,” Reagan said. “I think that sort of leadership and mentality within the team, it creates a great space to be able to make that postseason push late into December.”
The Beach finished 22-9 last season, securing their second 20-win season in the last three years and posting their fewest losses since 2022. LBSU also tied for second in the Big West last season with a 14-4 conference record.
Long Beach State has proven its formidability in conference play. But after falling short to Cal Poly in the Big West Championship semifinals, the team is hungry for more.
“We want to win a Big West Championship and go deep in the tournament,” Reagan said. “I think this team is very capable of that and we’re really excited to have a group that is united in that goal.”
One strength will be continuity, as the Beach returns nine players and four starters from 2025. A key headliner of the pack is junior Madi Maxwell, who is beginning her second season as a setter. She led the 2025 team in assists and aces while recording a team-high 306 digs, numbers that earned her numerous accolades, including Second Team All-Big West honoree and three Big West Setter of the Week honors.
Now an upperclassman, Maxwell said her leadership qualities will be built on those that inspired her. She also credits the graduating seniors and her fellow upperclassmen for teaching her about LBSU’s culture, and vows to carry that forward.
One player Maxwell has bonded with in particular is junior Madi Collins. Reagan jokingly called the duo “Madi squared” as a testament to how those two have guided this current group together.
Both played beach volleyball in the spring, meaning they stepped away from the indoor team for a short period. Reagan was impressed by how seamlessly the two players integrated back into the group, and praised Collins and Maxwell for having the humility and social awareness to step in as leaders alongside newer ones who emerged in their absence.
“Our team has natural leaders, they take their own, they teach their own,” Maxwell said. “I think that they’re just amazing examples of good humans, on top of that good volleyball players that lead by example every day.”
Sophomore Sidney Hamaker is another returner to watch. A Big West All-Freshman honoree, Hamaker finished with 222 kills last season, which ranked third on the team. She’ll look to take another step forward as an offensive threat in her second season.
Reagan also highlighted returning liberos Izzy Mahaffey and Anna Jelinek, two sophomores who both excelled in their freshman seasons. Mahaffey had 211 digs and 11 aces, while Jelinek tallied 183 digs and eight aces.
“They’re both incredible liberos, and having their leadership in the back row is a great returning option for us,” Reagan said.
Junior Pola Bujnarowska will return as the team’s middle blocker, while sophomore Preslie Yates will also compete for that position after playing 11 sets as a redshirt freshman last year.
Despite a crowded class of returners, LBSU will also welcome several newcomers, including five transfers. One is middle blocker Reagan Hope. A graduate student, Hope brings a wealth of college volleyball experience to Long Beach State, having spent two seasons at Oregon, two at UCLA and one season playing beach volleyball with Arizona State.
The other four portal additions are senior Kendal Murphy, fifth-year Dani Thomas-Nathan, sophomore setter Kinga Ziolkowska and junior outside hitter Haumea Marumoto. Murphy was a Top 20 recruit who started 29 matches for Baylor in 2024, while Thomas-Nathan brings four years of Pac-12 experience. Ziolkowska averaged 5.47 assists per set as a freshman at McNeese State, and Marumoto, a Hawaii native, won a state championship in high school before playing two seasons for Washington State.
“The transfers have been great in terms of not only learning the system, but also stepping in as graduate students and seniors and bringing their experience and leadership to a fairly young team,” Reagan said. “So it’s been really great having the newcomers kind of settle in and learn our culture and have this humility to be able to learn from our returners too.”
Two freshmen also joined LBSU: middle blocker Kyler Birkelbach, who averaged over a block per set in high school, and outside hitter Emma Gardner, who has recorded over 1,000 kills in her career and won a high school state championship at Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma.
Both have been with the team since the spring, meaning they’ve had time to develop relationships with their teammates.
“We’re really excited about them, we think they will have an impact on the court right away as true freshmen,” Reagan said.
While the Beach returns plenty of its core from a year ago and newcomers that are expected to contribute right away, LBSU will be without Logan King – who transferred to Florida after earning First Team All-Big West and Big West All-Freshman Team honors last season.
The Beach will be met with a tough test early, as their non-conference slate kicks off with a pair of highly anticipated matches against rival UCLA, the first on August 28 at the Long Beach Financial Credit Union Pyramid, the second on August 29 at Pauley Pavilion.
“UCLA is a big one and for a lot of different reasons,” Reagan said. “It’s the season opener. It’s our home opener and it’s our crosstown rival. So that’s gonna be a really great match for us.”
LBSU will later travel to Utah and Washington State and host several teams at home before conference play begins on October 9.
When asked about the team’s greatest strength, Maxwell touted her team’s chemistry in the gym this offseason, which she said has instilled a connected culture where the team’s personalities jell and everyone feels comfortable expressing their authentic selves.
She said those bonds will be key to Long Beach State’s success in 2026.
“We care about each other a lot and we would do anything for each other,” Maxwell said. “I think that what’s going to carry us really far is how bad we want it for each other.”
