The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
2026 Volleyball Roster
Roster
Abby Vander Wal
- Height:
- 6-3
- Class:
- Sophomore
- High School:
- Timothy Christian
- Hometown:
- Elmhurst, Ill.
- Major:
- Interested in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
- 2026 SEC All-Freshman Team
- Freshman Player of the Week (9/29/25)
- 2025-26 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll
2025 (Freshman)
Played in all 30 matches and 107 sets … Finished her freshman season with 280 kills, 34 blocks, 67 digs and six assists … Appeared in both Opening Spike Classic sweeps over No. 12 Creighton and No. 8 Wisconsin … Recorded five kills, six digs and one block in the win over Stanford … Posted a career-high 14 kills and three blocks in the five-set win over No. 4 Louisville … Added nine kills in the win over No. 9 Arizona State and 11 kills in the win over No. 9 TCU … Recorded 10 kills in the win over Vanderbilt … Posted nine kills and two blocks against No. 21 Missouri … Finished with 11 kills in the win at Georgia … Added 10 kills, two blocks and one dig in the win over No. 17 Tennessee … Recorded 13 kills against Alabama and Arkansas … Posted 15 kills and five digs in the win over Oklahoma … Registered a career-high 21 kills with four digs in the win at Ole Miss … Added seven kills, three digs and an assist in the win at LSU … Recorded 19 kills and one block at No. 9 Texas A&M … Added six kills, two blocks and two digs against No. 3 Kentucky … Posted seven kills and four digs in the win at Florida … Recorded 10 kills, four digs and two blocks in the SEC semifinal win over No. 6 Texas A&M … Finished with 15 kills, four digs and two blocks against No. 3 Kentucky in the SEC Championship match … Recorded five kills in the NCAA First Round win over Florida A&M … Added 10 kills and two blocks in the NCAA Second Round win over No. 25 Penn State … Finished with three kills against No. 15 Indiana and nine kills against No. 10 Wisconsin in the NCAA Regional.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Member of the 2026 USA Women’s U21 National Team that won the NORCECA Women’s U21 Pan American Cup gold medal … Helped the 2024 USA Women’s U21 National Team win the NORCECA Continental Championship gold medal … Member of the 2023 USA Women’s U19 National Team that won the FIVB U19 World Championship and the Pan American Cup gold medal … Named Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Hitter of the 2023 FIVB U19 World Championship … Helped Team USA finish sixth at the 2023 FIVB U21 World Championship.
PRIOR TO TEXAS
Named the 2024 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year … AVCA High School Player of the Year finalist … AVCA High School First Team All-American … Under Armour All-American and team captain … Illinois News-Gazette Player of the Year … Earned All-State, All-Area and Conference MVP honors … Named to the 2024 USA Volleyball Junior National Championships 17 Open All-Tournament Team … PrepVolleyball.com 17U First Team All-American … JVA All-National Team.
PERSONAL
Daughter of Steve and Kristi Vander Wal … Has two brothers, Ben and Jake … Mother played basketball at Taylor University … Father played baseball at Taylor University … Brother, Ben, plays basketball at Furman.
