League One Volleyball returns to Salt Lake for Year 2. Here are 3 things to know

TAYLORSVILLE — Year 2 of League One Volleyball in Utah's capitol city ushered in Thursday night with a sweep and a boom.

Former BYU star Alexa Gray had 11 kills, three blocks and an ace for 15 points, and Jordyn Poulter dished out an eye-popping 41 assists as LOVB Salt Lake turned aside LOVB Houston in straight sets, 25-12, 25-20, 25-20, Thursday night at Salt Lake Community College.

Claire Hoffman added 15 kills, and Heidy Casanova had nine kills, eight digs and two aces for LOVB Salt Lake that hit a league-record .570 hitting percentage.

"My job becomes really easy when our passers are putting me in system in good places, and I'm just the middle man delivering the ball," said Poulter, a two-time Olympic medalist from Aurora, Colorado via the University of Illinois before a seven-year pro career. "Claire had some massive rips tonight that were so fun to watch.

"We've been grinding in practice, and it doesn't feel good leaving the gym almost defeated every day. But knowing that work that we're doing there translates to pulling out some wins is awesome."

Manami Kojima had seven digs and six serve receptions without an error for Salt Lake to improve to 2-1 after splitting a pair of road matches to open the season.

Gray put down her 12th point of the night as Salt Lake hit 64.2% en route to a 2-0 lead, and fellow BYU alum Mary Lake Bennett served up one of the host's five aces to help sweep Houston (0-3) for the second time in three matches.

LOVB Salt Lake returns to SLCC's Bruin Arena to host LOVB Madison on Saturday night (7 p.m. MST, Victory+).

New year, same team

Building on the inaugural season of a startup league — one of three professional volleyball attempts in the United States alongside Major League Volleyball (MLV) and Athletes Unlimited — is never easy.

But Salt Lake has as much continuity as anybody returning 13 players who played in Utah a year ago, including two-time Olympic medalists Poulter at setter and Haleigh Washington at middle blocker.

In fact, only three newcomers joined Salt Lake in 2026 in Gray, the former BYU All-American and 2023 Italy Series A1 MVP; middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, who won an NCAA title with Texas A&M in 2025; and setter Madi Bugg, the former three-time All-American at Stanford and 10th-year pro.

"It's so easy to build off what we already had," Hoffman said, "and even bringing in the new girls that a lot of us were familiar with. It just felt like we were right back; we didn't really skip a beat. We were able to hit the ground running pretty quick, and get after it."

Utah pride

Gray joins a roster that already boasts plenty of pride in representing the Beehive State, led by Utah natives Dani Drews and Roni Jones-Perry.

Drews, a four-time All-American at the University of Utah from Sandy, was a consistent standout on the first-year roster in her hometown after playing professionally in Poland, Italy and Japan.

Jones-Perry erupted for a career-high 24 kills and five blocks against Madison last March while representing her home state, as well.

Add to it Gray, who grew up in Lethbridge, Alberta, before starring at BYU, and Mary Lake Bennett, the former all-time digs leader and All-American for the Cougars, and LOVB Salt Lake has felt the "love" from Salt Lake.

Defensive mentality

It's still early in Year 2, but LOVB Salt Lake already boasts an identity as arguably the top defense in the six-team league (that will expand to 10 in 2027).

Salt Lake leads in nearly every defensive category, including pass efficiency and opponent disruption. Serena Gray led the league in hitting efficiency when she won offensive player of the week after splitting a pair of road matches to open the season Jan. 8-10, and second-year outside hitter Sophie Fischer has the second-most good touches at 66.7%.

But it all starts in the back with Kojima, the 5-foot-2 Japanese international who starred for her home country at the 2024 Summer Games and earned Best Libero honors at the 2023 Asian Championships and 2024 Volleyball Nations League.

"That's one of the best liberos in the world right on their side. That kind of helps," Houston coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "Their blockers are disciplined, they're in good spots, and then you can put yourself in a good defensive position behind it.

"So what makes them great is their discipline in the block and a libero in the back who you know is going to touch a lot of balls; she's going to pick up a lot of junk."

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