BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Setter of the Year Kamrynn Clay and First Team All-Conference Middle Blocker Kaylen Hines of the Alabama State University women's volleyball team were once again recognized by the conference in their 2026 Volleyball Preseason Awards, as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Hines, who was tabbed as the Preseason Blocker of the Year a season ago, returns for her fourth campaign with the Lady Hornets, while Clay, a rising junior who also joined her teammate on the Preseason First Team All-SWAC list, is looking to continue etching her name among the elite setters in program history.
 
Hines appeared in 29 matches for Alabama State, where she ranked second on the team with 232 kills and blocked 86 opposing attacks. Her 301.5 points contributed on the year gave her a career-best 2.9 points per set, a number which she has more than doubled since her rookie campaign.
 
Clay, who was named SWAC Setter of the Week four times in her sophomore season, totaled 818 assists, leading the conference with 7.72 assists per set. She added 27 aces and 27 kills in a career year, and she will be a foundational piece on a new team for the Lady Hornets this season.
 
Not only will the two student-athletes be relied on as the team welcomes an NCAA-high 15 newcomers and 10 transfer student-athletes to the team, but also as they acclimate to playing a majority of the home games in the 7,400-seat Joe L. Reed Dunn-Oliver Acadome, where the 2026 SWAC Volleyball Championship Tournament is set to take place in November.
 
The 2026 edition of the Lady Hornets women's volleyball team will take the court on Saturday, August 22, in an exhibition game against UAB inside Lockhart Gymnasium at 3:30 p.m. It travels to a pair of tournaments in Troy, Ala., and Spartanburg, S.C., and a solo non-conference match before coming home to make its debut in the Acadome at the ISTAP Collegiate Cup on Friday, September 11, with the opener against South Carolina State taking place at 10 a.m.