Members of Team Thompson, including Justine Wong-Orantes in a gold Libero jersey, Molly McCage, Jordan Thompson, and Maddie Haynes in their black jerseys, celebrate a point.

Recap: Thompson's 26-kill performance guides win against Team Hoffman

Ryan Legarsky

Oct 10, 2025

OMAHA, Nebraska — Opposite Jordan Thompson recorded 26 kills, including 15 kills in the third set, and added 13 digs to guide Team Thompson to a 76-73 victory against Team Hoffman in the finale of Thursday’s AU Pro Volleyball Championship doubleheader at Liberty First Credit Union Arena.

KEY MOMENT

Team Hoffman held off Team Thompson in the opening set with a 28-26 verdict before Team Thompson pulled ahead with a 25-22 triumph in the middle frame. Led by Thompson’s record-setting 15 kills in the third set, Team Thompson secured the match win by edging Team Hoffman by a 25-23 count.

LEADERBOARD UPDATE

Thompson remains in the top spot on the leaderboard and holds a 457-point advantage over libero Morgan Hentz heading into their head-to-head tilt on Sunday. Outside hitter Claire Hoffman, who made her debut as a captain, dropped three spots into seventh place after tallying just 164 points in her team’s setback.

TEAM THOMPSON NOTES

Opposite Jordan Thompson became the 12th player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to win their debut as a team captain.
Thompson, who notched her third 20-kill performance in four matches this season, narrowly missed matching the AU Pro Volleyball Championship single-match record with her 26-kill output on Thursday night … Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía set the record with 27 kills against Team Stivrins on March 25, 2022, before outside hitter Claire Chaussee tied the mark against Team Edmond on October 27, 2023.
Thompson set a new league record with 15 kills in the third set, which surpassed De La Cruz-Mejía’s previous mark of 14 kills during the second set against Team Abercrombie on October 14, 2024.
Thompson, who notched her first double-double of the season after adding 13 digs, has earned Match MVP honors in each of her first four matches this season, including a league-high three MVP 1 awards … Thompson and outside hitter Dani Drews are tied for the league lead with four Match MVP citations.
Thompson’s 437 leaderboard points mark the fifth-highest single-match total in league history … De La Cruz-Mejía holds the record with 477 points against Team Valentin-Anderson on April 15, 2022.
Outside hitter Maddie Haynes, who did not record any stat points in Week One, finished with six kills and 12 digs while making her first start of the season.
Libero Piyanut Pannoy has posted three consecutive double-digit dig efforts after closing Thursday’s match with 13 digs.
Setter Madi Bugg dished out a season-high 40 assists in Thursday’s win, marking the third time she has reached the 40-assist mark in a match during her career … She is also the third setter to collect 40 or more assists in a match this season, joining Natalia Valentin-Anderson (42 assists vs. Team Abercrombie on October 9) and Sydney Hilley (41 assists vs. Team Kingdon Rishel on October 5).
Bugg became the 14th different player to earn Match MVP recognition this season after adding 13 digs for the fifth double-double of her Athletes Unlimited career.
Middle blocker Molly McCage became the fourth player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to surpass 10,000 career leaderboard points after closing Thursday’s match with 241 points … McCage has now collected 10,038 leaderboard points in her five-year Athletes Unlimited career.
McCage also moved into a tie for third place on the league’s all-time Match MVP awards chart after garnering her 17th career award … McCage was voted as the match’s MVP 3 choice after contributing seven kills with no attack errors in addition to two solo blocks, one service ace and one dig.
McCage also became the sixth player in league history to win 30 or more career matches after upping her all-time record to 30-34.

Next Match: Sunday, October 12 vs. Team Hentz | 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT

TEAM HOFFMAN NOTES

Outside hitter Claire Hoffman, who made her debut as a team captain on Thursday night, registered her sixth career double-digit kill performance after contributing 11 kills against Team Thompson … She also had 13 kills against Team Hentz on Monday night.
Hoffman did not record an attack error against Team Thompson on Thursday, marking the 14th time in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history where a player tallied 10 or more kills without recording an attack error.
Outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller authored the 24th double-digit kill performance of her AU Pro Volleyball Championship career, including her second instance this season, after finishing with 12 kills … Her 24 career double-digit kills efforts rank fourth on the league’s all-time chart
Opposite Brittany Abercrombie authored her seventh career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs … She has reached double-digit kills in 18-of-19 career AU Pro Volleyball Championship outings.
Setter Micha Hancock finished with 36 assists to mark the second time she has reached 30 or more assists this season … She also added seven digs in Thursday’s defeat.
Middle blocker McKenna Vicini led Team Hoffman with three solo rejections and a pair of block assists … Her nine solo blocks are tied for second in the league with middle blocker Sophie Fischer.