OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Evergreen State College volleyball team will open the 2026 regular season at the Friends Invitational in Wichita, Kansas, this weekend. Evergreen will play two matches on Friday, Aug. 21, followed by two matches on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Evergreen will open the tournament against Peru State College (Neb.) at 4 p.m. CDT / 2 p.m. PDT on Friday. The Geoducks will conclude the first day of action by taking on host Friends University at 6 p.m. CDT / 4 p.m. PDT. On Saturday, the Geoducks will battle Oklahoma Panhandle State University at 10 a.m. CDT / 8 a.m. PDT and will conclude the tournament against MidAmerica Nazarene University at 2 p.m. CST / 12 p.m. PDT.
Head Coach
Carissa Bounds is starting her fourth season with the Geoducks. This year's team includes eight returning players.
Top returning leaders on the attack for Evergreen are
Zofia Formella (Jr., MB/OH) and
Sophia Scroggins (Sr., OH). Formella earned a team-high 144 kills and led the Geoducks with 1.95 kills per set in 2025. Scroggins added 138 kills a year ago while averaging 1.86 kills per set. In three seasons with the Geoducks, she has registered 415 career kills, averaged 1.71 kills per set, and amassed 213 digs and 111 total blocks on defense.
Jayden Vaimaona (Sr.) returns at the setter position. In 2025, Vaimaona provided the Geoducks with a team-high 198 assists.
The leader among returning blockers for the Geoducks is
Mikayla Kelly (Grad., MB/OPP), who accumulated 50 total blocks. Kelly averaged 0.68 blocks per set.
After competing at the Friends Invitational, Evergreen will return to action on Friday, Aug. 28 in an exhibition match against nearby rival University of Puget Sound. Match time is set for 7 p.m. PDT at the Costantino Recreation Center on the Evergreen campus.
