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2026 Fall Preview: STC Volleyball

Trojans return a wealth of experience from last season’s winning team

NEWS CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO - STC junior Maylee Rucker returns this fall after leading the team in assists (579) last season.
NEWS CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO - STC senior Paisley Bro returns for the Trojans this season after back-to-back seasons of earning all-WaMaC honors.
NEWS CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO - STC junior Stella Zmolek returns this fall after recording 177 kills in her sophomore campaign.

Head Coach Emily Chyma and the STC volleyball team has plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming 2026 season. Last fall the team achieved their first winning season (19-18) since 2013, and the program’s most wins in the last 16 years. Now, as practice officially began on Monday, August 10, Chyma finds most of her roster returning from that successful season.

STC will be led this fall by senior Paisley Bro, a two-time all-WaMaC honoree, who earned a spot on the second team in her sophomore season and the first team in her junior year. Last season, when she led the team with 214 kills, Bro became only the 8th Trojan to have more than 200 kills in a season in the last 18 years. She also recorded 37 aces in 2025, which ranks just outside the top ten all-time for a Trojan in a single season.

STC will also return a pair of juniors who earned second team WaMaC honors last fall: Stella Zmolek and Maylee Rucker. In 2025, Zmolek earned the team’s offensive MVP from the STC coaching staff, and ranked second on the team in kills (177). Rucker — playing setter for the first time in her career last year–led the Trojans in assists with 579. The number represented the 6th most assists all-time in a single season in school history. For her efforts, Rucker earned the 2025 team MVP from the coaching staff.

In addition, the Trojans return other key players on the court this fall. Juniors Keinzle Boriskey and Brylee Nelson are back, after Boriskey led the team in blocks (64) and Nelson led the team in digs (149) in 2025. The Trojans also bring back team defensive MVP, junior Sydney Arp, and seniors Mady Boriskey, Desiray Popelka, and Taylor Dolezal.

STC will host a scrimmage against West Marshall on Friday, August 21, at the STC high school gym. Their opening match of the season will be on Thursday, August 27, when they host Gilbert. Other key dates for the team this fall include: September 22 (vs. Grinnell at home); September 26 (STC Invite at home); and October 6 (vs. Benton at home). The Trojans will conclude the regular season by traveling to Solon on Thursday, October 15, for the annual WaMaC conference tournament.