MIDWAY, Ky. - With her third year as Midway men's volleyball coach on the cusp of starting, Kennedy Mang has a good reason for keeping her planned lineup close to the vest.

"I can't give away all my secrets, mostly because I don't know them yet," Mang said of a roster where 10 of 14 players are either freshmen or sophomores. "(But) I'm excited to see people kind of come into their own."

The Eagles are likely to rely on newcomers up front, as they saw the departure of their top-three kill leaders from a season ago. The group will accompany returners like sophomore Braden Cacek and senior Jaden Alston, who had 65 and 63 kills respectively a season ago.

Fortunately for Mang, she's got strong early contributions from freshmen a season ago, with the bulk of that core returning this spring.

Headlining the sophomore group is liberto Lincoln Anderson, who had a program-record 206 digs last season, and setters Jordan Daily and Noah Fichter, who were first and second on the team with 328 and 129 assists respectively in 2025.

"I think we're building off last year really well," said Anderson, who also recorded a single-match program record 24 digs in the first official outing of his collegiate career. "(There's) definitely some good people coming in this year in the areas we lacked last year."

River States Conference coaches are still expecting some growing pains from Midway this year, as the Eagles were picked to finish ninth in a preseason coach's poll.

Their sentiment isn't shared in the locker room, however, where optimism appears to be the highest its been in recent memory.

"We have a lot that (hasn't) been shown yet, so a lot of people are going to be surprised," said Alston, one of three seniors on the roster. "I'd just say, stay tuned."

Midway begins 2026 with a four-match-in-two-day trip to Bourbonnais, Ill. for the Olivet Nazarene Invitational on Thursday and Friday.

The Eagles kick things off against Dordt (Iowa) at 3 p.m. Thursday before playing Judson (Ill.) at 7 p.m.