Breaking Down the Top Defenders of the 2025 AU Pro Volleyball Championship
The 2025 Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball Championship delivered another season loaded with seemingly endless rallies fueled by showstopping defensive plays. Those athletes racking up the digs and keeping plays alive had a massive impact on how each match played out, giving their teams’ offenses as many chances to score as possible.
Five players representing three different positions separated themselves statistically in the digs category. Here’s a closer look at the top digs leaders from the 2025 Championship.
Morgan Hentz | 4.69 digs per set | 8th place
Morgan Hentz finished her fourth AU season at the top of the digs category and once again rewrote the AU record book. She became the league’s first four-time Defensive Player of the Year and hit a major milestone this fall by reaching her 700th career dig. Her season-high 21 digs against Team Thompson in Week Four marked her sixth career match with 20 or more digs, making her one of just three players to hit that threshold this season.
She wrapped the fall with 169 digs to lead the league and collected 845 leaderboard points in the digs stat category alone. Hentz earned captain roles in Weeks One, Two, and Four, and finished eighth overall with 2,355 leaderboard points while remaining the only libero to serve as a captain in 2025.
Manami Kojima | 3.89 digs per set
Manami Kojima put together a strong second AU season, playing in every match to bring her career totals to 27 matches, 81 sets, and a career average of 4.15 digs per set. She collected 700 leaderboard points from digs and ranked second in the league with 140 total digs, making her one of the most sought-after libero picks on the draft board each week.
Kojima hit a season high during Week Two with a 16 dig outing for Team Valentin Anderson. Her 3.89 digs per set this fall kept her near the top of the libero group, and she ended the season as one of AU’s most consistent back-row anchors.
work work don’t stop for Manami 🔥#AUProVB pic.twitter.com/Bkym4bFpgH
— AU Pro Volleyball (@AUProVolleyball) October 10, 2025
Piyanut Pannoy | 3.76 digs per set
Piyanut Pannoy made an immediate impact in her AU debut. She played in every match and finished with 139 total digs–just one behind Kojima–making her third in the league in the category. Her 3.76 digs per set helped her add 690 leaderboard points to her end-of-season total.
Pannoy’s defensive performances pushed her to 1,957 total points and 14th on the leaderboard, which ranked second among all liberos this season, marking a strong showing for the first-year AU athlete.
Natalia Valentin-Anderson | 3.51 digs per set
Natalia Valentin-Anderson continued her trend of finishing among the league’s top defenders, even while running the offense as a setter. She posted 3.51 digs per set in her fourth AU season and tallied 130 digs total, ranking fourth in the league in the category while placing 6th overall. Her defensive consistency earned her 645 stat points from digs, and her well-rounded performance made her an obvious choice for the 2025 All-Position Team.
Valentin-Anderson has now finished in the top four in digs for four straight seasons after finishing third in her debut year in 2022, and fourth in both 2023 and 2024.
what a third set 👏#AUProVB pic.twitter.com/4fWw6mepGz
— AU Pro Volleyball (@AUProVolleyball) October 14, 2025
Brittany Abercrombie | 3.03 digs per set
Brittany Abercrombie followed up her 2024 championship season with another strong all-around performance. She posted 3.03 digs per set, picked up 555 stat points from digs, and finished fifth in the league in the category with 112 total digs after placing seventh in the category last fall.
Abercrombie is known as one of the league’s most reliable offensive options, but her defensive impact brings her game to another level. Her reliability in all six rotations helped her place in the Top 10 on the leaderboard for the second straight season.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
