2026 Volleyball Preview: North Dakota Fighting Hawks | A New Era in Grand Forks

A new era begins for North Dakota volleyball in 2026.

New head coach David Nguyen takes over a Fighting Hawks program looking to climb the Summit League standings, and he’ll do it with an almost completely rebuilt roster. UND returns just 19% of its points and 37% of its sets played from last season after losing First Team All-Summit outside hitter Paige Barber and several other key contributors.

But there are plenty of new faces to watch.

In this preview, I break down the roster position-by-position, including international additions Elena Stefanov and Ela Vlaisavljevic, transfers Andrea Zaric, Lilliana Montes and Tessa Jacobson, and North Dakota recruits Ellee McIntosh and Mackenzie Dufner.

We’ll also look at UND’s non-conference schedule, the late addition of two home matches against Mercer, what David Nguyen inherits in Year 1, and the biggest questions facing the Fighting Hawks entering 2026.

Can a new coach and a dramatically different roster start changing the direction of UND volleyball?

#UNDVolleyball #SummitLeague #CollegeVolleyball #NCAAVolleyball #SummitVBFan

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