The 2026 high school volleyball field may once again be led by Astoria. Armed with a Division 1 commit and four seniors, the Fishermen are looking to run their Cowapa League streak to three. But don’t discount rival Seaside — the team has a new coach. In addition, Warrenton is armed with an impressive group of freshmen, while Knappa and Jewell look to compete well in the smaller districts.
Astoria
With four seniors and arguably the best player in the state, the Astoria volleyball team is set up for another great season.
After winning a home playoff game and taking eventual 4A State Champion Marist Catholic to five sets in the round of eight in 2025, the Fishermen are shooting for even higher heights this season. The chances of this are very high since Astoria has an experienced roster consisting of seniors Lyla Carlson, Keturah Jackson, Hadley Painter and Kendal Ewing. As in the last two years, Kyah Gohr will be leading the team. Fresh off her verbal commitment to the University of Washington, the junior, who also plays beach volleyball, will return to the hardcourt after spending much of her summer on the beach.
Though the Fishermen are two-time defending Cowapa League champions, they will enter 2026 as underdogs. This is mostly due to the inclusion of Valley Catholic. The Valiants are the defending 3A State Champions and enter the season ranked No. 2 in 4A behind Marist Catholic. Astoria ranked No. 8 in the preseason coaches poll, but could easily outplay that metric.
Gohr, like her indoor club teammate Jazlynn Morris-Holmes of The Dalles, has the talent to carry Astoria all the way to the 4A title game. Gohr is joined by fellow juniors Maggie Falleur, Sofia Nygaard and Chloe Painter. Sophomore trio Kilee Svensen, Emma Ness and Abby Litwin make up the rest of Astoria’s experienced roster.
Outside of Valley Catholic, there’s Banks and Scappoose. The Braves graduated just two players from last season’s 17-6 roster and are also adding three new players. After being Astoria’s biggest challenger in 2024, the Indians underwent a trying season in 2025, which included their former head coach stepping down mid-season. Led by a new coaching staff and seven seniors, the Indians come into 2026 locked and loaded. Tillamook is going to be the unknown after losing many seniors from last season. The Cheesemakers will enter the year with 10 sophomores and just three seniors.
Seaside
A new era is here for Seaside volleyball. After a new coaching staff led by Nicole Aydt was brought in to start 2026, the Seagulls young core looks primed to take the next step.
Though the Seagulls won only one game over the last two seasons, the talent was always there for this roster. A couple years of seasoning had the Seagulls flying much higher at the Warrenton Volleyball Tournament on Aug. 29. The Seagulls’ identity of defense, serving and good passing was on display in their third-place finish.
Seaside has just two seniors on its roster with Autumn Fenton and Zavannah Davis. Araya Edwards, Tiera Spivey, libero Chloe Baker and Sophia Saso headline a strong junior class. Fellow junior Stella Ensign had some good moments during the Warrenton tournament as well. Sophomore Jahzara Marshall took a nice off-season step and looks to be translating her basketball athleticism onto the volleyball court. Other players making up the squad are: junior Olyvia Morse, Anabell Erspamer, Juliana Olsem, Kenadee Klumper and Lola Carrar.
Warrenton
The Warriors are set for a new era.
Graduations by Lucy Smith, Natalie Pike and Frances Taggart were expected, but after Hannah Leavitt and Sadie Smith decided not to play at the start of summer practices, the Warriors were left with a very young team. That means a team that went 13-10 and qualified for the round of 16 a year ago, has a lot of work to do in the early season. But the Warriors are helped by Banks departing for 4A. This will leave the league wide open.
In total, the Warriors enter 2026 with five returning players from last season’s team. Seniors Layla Anderson and Kiki Olson are joined by junior captains Natalie Davis and Scarlet Anderson. Sophomore Aiden Armstrong is the other returning player from last season. Warrenton will fill the other remaining spots with freshmen.
If there’s a theme for the Warriors season, it would be a sister affair. Not only are the Warriors coached by sisters Kimberly Palek and Sarah Owen, they will have two sets of sisters on the team.
Natalie Davis will be joined by her younger sister Addison Davis and Layla Anderson will be joined by her younger sister Lili Anderson. Addison and Lili are joined by other freshmen Emma Elliot, Karli Gantenbein, Stella Marshall and Addy Peterson.
The Warriors’ potential has already been on display during the early season. After defeating Knappa in three sets, the Warriors came in second to league rival Neah-Kah-Nie in the Aug. 29 tournament. Davis leads the way as the Warriors’ main hammer, but the Warriors look to have two more with Olson and the younger Anderson sister. Libero and setter will be occupied by Elliot and Gantenbein, respectively.
Knappa
The Loggers are entering their second season under Selena Burgher. After going 4-15 last season, Knappa hopes the experience gained by this group of players will start to pay off.
Fielding a team that has just one underclassmen, the Loggers look poised to improve upon their play this season after many of their players got court time a year ago. The Loggers do have to replace Maddy Bailey, Jocelyn Tarabochia and Kenadie Kost; but so far, seniors Ayla Burnett, Lilly Schaelling and Alabama Rogers look good. Knappa has also seen improvement from junior middle blocker Anamey Simmons. The rest of the roster consists of juniors Danika Lebo, Alexis Alden, Evelyn Wilson, Lexi Wilson and Maddie Miller. Sophomore Teagan Bryan will also return to the mix as sophomore captain.
Knappa tied for sixth place with Vernonia in the league last season. With league contender Portland Christian no longer in the 2A Northwest League, 2025 co-champion Clatskanie enters as the favorite. Faith Bible, Gaston and Nestucca will also be teams Knappa will contend with this season.
Jewell
Jewell enters the new volleyball season looking to improve on its 4-12 overall record from 2025.
The Blue Jays will need to replace graduating trio Abigail Cabezon, TJ Wammack and Cheyanne Weisler. This season, Jewell will be captained by senior Koa Chonister and sophomore Miranda Lerma. Other players include senior Ellie Findlay, junior trio Isabell Jacober, Peyton Titus and Carrie Clark. Sophomores Savannah Hammerberg and Carmen Peacock will be joined by freshmen Kolbie Dugan, Maddalyn Schnepp and Anyanca Blair.
