The athletes of League One Volleyball’s Austin and Salt Lake City teams are gearing up for the championship, telling E! News how they’re feeling in an exclusive interview.
ByApr 16, 2026 7:38 PMTags
How LOVB Athletes Keep Their Heads in the Game Ahead of the Championship
Adrenaline can really spike on the court.
Which is why the star athletes of LOVB (a.k.a. League One Volleyball) have learned how to maintain their focus, especially when there’s a championship on the line. Because, for LOVB Austin and Salt Lake City, that is exactly the case as the two teams will face off on April 16 and 18 to see who will come out on top for LOVB’s second season.
For Austin player Logan Eggleston, her team’s success lies in keeping the vibes in the locker room consistent.
“We've done a really good job of keeping it pretty consistent the whole year,” she explained to E! News in an exclusive interview. “We don't want to make this weekend bigger than it is. I feel like once you talk about how big the moment is, it kind of brings the nerves. So, I feel like our locker room is very chill right now.”
As she put it, “We're just trying to maintain the great volleyball that we've been playing and the good vibes.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Salt Lake City’s Serena Gray, who detailed how her team is focused on making the most of their time together.
“There's a little bit of just enjoying the moment,” she said. “Having no expectations and just wanting to have the best time and cherish this little time we have left with this group we've had for two years.”
David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
But this is not to say any of the athletes are just waltzing into the championship games: Even though Austin won last year, team member Madisen Skinner knows there is a battle ahead.
“I really haven't had a chance to actually sit with that idea,” she admitted of the prospect of Austin being back-to-back champions. “We still have a lot of volleyball ahead of us. If that's what happens—amazing, and I think we're going to be super stoked. But we have a great Salt Lake team ahead of us, so making sure we're locked in on the volleyball side of it and not getting too far ahead of ourselves is key.”
Because these athletes all know that this is when history is being made—especially with LOVB in only its second season.
“For me,” said Austin’s Zoe Jarvis, “joining this league in year one, I wanted to be on the ground floor of something that I think is going to last for a long time, and to be able to tell my kids about this cool thing that I was part of.”
Kayla Wolf/Getty Images
So, walking away with that inaugural season title “was so cool. Literally written in the history books.”
As for winning back-to-back? “I want to tell my children about doing that,” she noted. “That's what I'm here for.”
And her teammate Leah Hardeman wants to prove Austin has what it takes to bring the heat year after year.
“We won the first one,” she said, “and it kind of was a ‘fluke’ for a lot of people, so I feel like we are definitely running it back. Just to be here is amazing, but to do it two times would be the cherry on top.”
To follow LOVB’s epic conclusion, tune into USA Network—or catch the spikes in person: Tickets are available on LOVB’s website.
(E! and USA Network are both part of the Versant Media family.)
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。