BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (September 10, 2026) – The University of North Alabama volleyball team will compete in the Samford Invitational Friday and Saturday, facing Samford and Jacksonville State in Birmingham, Ala.
The two-day event is hosted by Samford. The Lions will face Samford on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Jacksonville State on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The invitational will be played at Pete Hanna Center on Samford University's campus. Tickets are available for both matches and can be purchased through the Samford ticket office.
The UNA vs. Samford match will be the Lions' only match broadcast on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for each match on StatBroadcast. Fans can also find updates on the North Alabama Volleyball social media pages.
Full results and a recap will be posted on RoarLions.com following each match.
MATCH 1
North Alabama at Samford
Friday, Sept. 11, 2026
6:30 p.m.
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets
MATCH 2
North Alabama vs. Jacksonville State
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026
4 p.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: The Lions are coming off their eighth win of the season after facing Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn. on Tuesday, Sept. 8. UNA had a team hitting percentage of .347 against the Tigers and only allowed them to hit for negative .010.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama enters the match with an 8-0 record with eight perfect sweeps. This marks the program's best set-to-set start in history after breaking the record for most sweeps to open a season. The record was previously held by the 2002 team, who opened their season with six straight sweeps. The Lions return 11 players, including Preseason All-UAC selections junior Kinslee McGowan and junior Reese Ricketts, who were both 2025 Third Team All-ASUN selections, as well. UNA welcomes four freshmen and one transfer. The team has .304 hitting percentage and has recorded 347 kills and only allowing opponents to hit for .114.
SCOUTING SAMFORD: Samford enters the match with an overall record of 1-4. The Bulldogs have lost to Alabama, UC Riverside, Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt with their sole win coming from Belmont. The Bulldogs were picked sixth in the SoCon preseason poll with 46 votes, and had one player, senior Ally Cordes, receive preseason honors. The team has a hitting percentage of .148 with 215 kills this season.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE BULLDOGS: The series history sits at an even 4-4 record between the Lions and Bulldogs. The last time the two faced off was last season, when UNA swept Samford in Florence, Ala. for the home opener. The other two Division I meetings come from 2019 and 2023, when Samford won both. The first time these two teams faced off was in 1992, and Samford won 3-0.
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE: Jacksonville State has an overall record of 1-6, with their losses coming from Jacksonville, Southern Miss, Seton Hall, Bellarmine, Western Carolina and UNC Asheville. The Gamecock's sole win came over Southern University. The team has a kill percentage of .205 with 292 kills. JSU was tied for eighth in the Conference USA preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE GAMECOCKS: UNA and JSU have faced off 77 times, with UNA leading the nearly even series history at 39-38. The last time these two faced off was in 2024 at the UNA Classic when Jacksonville State won 3-2.
NEW FACES: The sole transfer is senior Phoebe Reyes Fortunato, who has quickly become a game changer, hitting .357 on the year with 73 kills. Two freshmen have also made a difference. Freshman Anna Hoffmayer is an everyday starter who leads the team with 22 blocks and has a hitting percentage of .404 with 45 kills. Freshman Kaylee Maikranz leads the team with 12 service aces, and she also broke the program record for individual single-match service aces with seven against UT Martin.
UNDEFEATED: North Alabama is among 17 teams that are still undefeated in NCAA Division I, and UNA is the first team to reach 8-0. This marks the programs best start in history after sweeping their first eight matches, breaking the 2002 team's record of six straight sweeps to open a season. Other undefeated teams include the likes of Nebraska, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Oregon, Washington and Kansas State, among others.
BACK-TO-BACK: Kinslee McGowan and senior Ava Martindale have now won their respective UAC weekly awards for the first two weeks in a row. McGowan received Setter of the Week after having 146 assists last week over four matches, and she now has 255 on the season. This is McGowan's sixth career Setter of the Week award after earning a program-high of four last year in the ASUN. Martindale earned her second-straight Defensive Player of the Week after recording 66 digs last week to have 133 on the season.
KILLING IT: North Alabama's team has an average of 14.48 kills per set, ranking 10th in the NCAA. UNA leads the United Athletic Conference in kills, kills per set and hitting percentage. They have totaled 347 kills to average 14.46 kills per set. The Lions hitting percentage is .304 and the closest being Little Rock with a .246 hitting percentage. UNA has limited their opponents well, only allowing them to hit .114.
CAN YOU DIG IT: The Lions are also fourth in digs per set in all of Division I with a 17.14 average, with help from Ava Martindale who is second in Division I in digs per set, averaging 5.57.
ASSIST QUEEN: Junior Preseason All-UAC selection Kinslee McGowan continues to lead the UAC in assists per set, averaging 11.59 with 255 total assists. She also ranks second in Division I and helps her team rank sixth, averaging 13.67.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
