Back in January, writing about the portal, I predicted that all 10 of our players eligible to return for ‘26 season would do so, and so far that prediction is holding up. And that, in addition to 3 incoming freshmen, we might pick up a strong player not intimidated by our already crowded roster. Perhaps one who has starred for a less successful team, or a European. And this also has come true.
We picked up 6-3 Middle Lucie Blažková from Washington State. A native of the Czech Republic, Blažková redshirted at WSU in 2023 before starting in every match during her freshman and sophomore seasons. She has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
As a freshman in 2024, Blažková’s 1.2 blocks per set (134 total) ranked third in the WCC and she was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team. Last year, while repeating her 1.2 blocks per set, she also set the WSU all-time single-season hitting percentage record with a .443 mark (9th-highest in the nation) on 280 kills. And she was named First Team All-WCC after being the WCC Player of the Week 3 times.
For now, Blažková (I might go with Lucie, easier to spell) gives us 4 Middles competing for 2 starting roles. Going to be interesting to see who gets them. I haven’t seen Blažková play, but for now I’d rank her #2 behind Jordan Taylor. Elena Hoecke was last year’s best high school player in MN and has a lot of upside, but she’s a freshman. And Calissa Minatee has proven to be an effective hitter, but she’s short (6-1) for a Middle and coming off an ACL injury.