Just over one year ago, Gregg Whitis inherited a Blinn College volleyball team that was already largely assembled.
This time, the roster is all his, and that distinction could define the Buccaneers' 2026 season.
Whitis enters his second season at Blinn after guiding the Bucs to a 38-5 record, a second-place finish in Region 14 and their sixth consecutive trip to the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship tournament in 2025. Blinn spent the entirety of 2025 ranked in the NJCAA Division I Top 20 and finished No. 9 nationally before going 1-2 at nationals.
The team that accomplished all of that has largely moved on.
Sophomore hitter Olivia Stringer, who earned NJCAA Division I first-team All-America honors after leading Blinn offensively, is gone, as are fellow major contributors including Kaliko Schilling, Jana Cetkovic, Annika Brooks, Leah Hoss, and Camden Bizot. Most of last year's freshman class also moved on to four-year programs.
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In total, 15 players from last year's team have transferred to four-year schools, including NCAA Division I programs such as the University of Houston, Cal Baptist University, Sam Houston State University and Alabama State University. Others moved on to NCAA Division II and NAIA programs.
Only two players return from the 2025 roster: sophomore libero/defensive specialist Natalia Silva and sophomore hitter/setter Kassandra De La Garza.
Whitis rebuilds nearly entire Blinn roster
Whitis spent the offseason rebuilding the program, bringing in 14 freshmen and three sophomores, including transfers Alana Asante, a middle blocker from Eastern Wyoming Community College; Aliyah Harris, an outside and opposite hitter from Tennessee State University; and McKynzee Beddes, an outside hitter from the University of California, Riverside.
In all, 17 of Blinn's 19 players are new to the program.
That turnover means there is plenty of talent to develop — and plenty of work to do — as the Bucs head into the season ranked No. 12 in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll.
"We're wildly talented athletically," Whitis said. "The competitiveness and leadership just need to be better, but that's a part of being young."
The challenge is magnified by the expectations that come with wearing the Blinn jersey. The Bucs have become a perennial national contender, and last season's team made the program's sixth consecutive national tournament appearance.
"We have a lot of players with a strong work ethic, and everyone is meshing well," said Asante. "As the days go on, you really start to appreciate the people who work hard. It's great to be in a program where that's the standard."
Asante, who arrived at Blinn in the spring, has seen firsthand how quickly the newcomers have begun adjusting to the program.
"I'm really excited to see the freshmen come in and start strong," she said.
Young Bucs lean on size, athleticism
Silva said the team is beginning to find its footing as preseason practices continue.
"It's a brand-new team, but we're doing well," Silva said. "We're on a good track. We're starting to get competitive and make each other better on the court. Everyone is working really hard."
The Bucs also have plenty of raw athletic ability to work with.
"We have a lot of talent," Silva said. "It's raw, but the talent is there to be molded and developed."
That talent is spread across a roster that features considerable size and athleticism, particularly in the middle.
"Our middles have height and power," Silva said. "Middles are such a vital part of the game."
Asante joked that Whitis has already found a way to describe the team's middle blockers.
"Gregg calls our three middles 'monsters who need to be fed,'" she said.
Asante and freshman blockers London King and Kansas Lamar stand 6'0, 6'1 and 6'2, respectively.
Practices have focused on setting, blocking and serving, with Whitis emphasizing the importance of creating pressure from the service line.
"Practices are going well, and everyone is working hard," Asante said. "We're getting back to strong setting and strong blocking, and we're working on being consistent and aggressive with our serving."
Whitis calls the serve the "first line of defense," making it a major point of emphasis during practices. With so many new players competing for playing time, every practice matters.
"You have to work hard to be on the court," Asante said. "What you do in practice is how you get on the court."
That competition is one of the biggest storylines surrounding the Bucs entering the season. Blinn must replace significant production while also determining which players can handle the demands of college volleyball at one of the nation's most successful junior college programs.
"Programs like Blinn volleyball don't have time to wait," Whitis said.
Challenging schedule awaits No. 12 Blinn
The schedule will offer plenty of opportunities to find out how quickly the Bucs can come together.
Blinn's 32-match regular-season schedule begins Friday, Aug. 21, at the Western Texas Tournament in Snyder, where the Bucs open against Temple College at 1 p.m.
Blinn will then host two tournaments at the Kruse Center in Brenham, beginning with the Kruse Kickoff Classic on Aug. 27 and followed by the Blinn Invitational on Sept. 4.
The schedule includes five matches against teams that finished ranked nationally last season. Indian Hills Community College, Florida SouthWestern State College — the 2025 national runner-up — and Daytona State College will visit during the Kruse Kickoff Classic, while Blinn will face Trinity Valley Community College twice in Region 14 play.
Trinity Valley went a perfect 14-0 in Region 14 last season and defeated Blinn in the Region 14 Tournament championship match before advancing to nationals.
Blinn opens Region 14 play at home against Tyler Junior College at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8.
The demanding schedule should provide an early test for a team that will have to mature quickly.
"It's good to set goals, but we need to work on the small goals first to get to the bigger ones," Silva said. "We're going to have failures and bumps in the road, but it's about how we respond to them."
That response could ultimately determine how far this year's Bucs go.
"Something that really resonates from Coach Whitis is, 'Keep up with the standards,'" Asante said.
While the Bucs know they have plenty to prove before they can match the accomplishments of the teams that came before them, they aren't short on ambition.
"Making it to nationals and winning the region is number one," Asante said.
