After three years on the Palouse, Lucie Blažková is transferring to the University of Minnesota, WSU announced earlier today. Blažková leaves Washington State having set a program record in hitting percentage after she hit .443 last season.
She was the longest-tenured Cougar volleyball player heading into the 2026 season. Her first season was in 2023, when she committed to play under former head coach Jen Greeny. She saw action in her second and third years after redshirting her freshman season.
In that time, she recorded 480 kills, 255 total blocks and had an average hitting percentage of .361. She was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team and Second Team in 2024 and to the First Team in 2025. She also earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Northwest All-Region honors and won WSU’s Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award for her efforts during the 2025 campaign.
Despite all of the accolades she earned while playing at WSU, transferring to the Big Ten is a step up that Camryn Lingenbrink, former WSU middle blocker and teammate of Blažková, said she felt was necessary.
“For [Blažková, even though she was accoladed so frequently], it wasn’t like this thing of, ‘oh my gosh, I’m the best.’ But it was like, she felt like she needed to push herself to…another limit, and she wanted to be challenged,” Lingenbrink said, speaking on Blažková’s behalf.
The Big Ten was home to nine teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025, including No. 1 seed Nebraska and No. 3 seeds Wisconsin and Purdue. Those three teams made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Compare this to the WCC, where the only team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament was the University of San Diego Toreros. They were ranked No. 8 going into the tournament.
Lingenbrink also said that part of the reason Blažková transferred was that she wanted to go to a school that had a master’s program for the degree she wanted. Blažková is currently pursuing a degree in psychology, according to her WSU Athletics page.
Lingenbrink said it was a hard decision for Blažková, but one that she felt supported in making.
“[Blažková] loved her time at Washington State, and I know that it was a really, really hard decision for her,” Lingenbrink said. “But I think she feels pretty supported by…those at Washington State, and a lot of people…are very, very happy for her.”
Blažková joins the Golden Gophers as their fourth middle blocker, alongside redshirt junior Calissa Minatee, sophomore Jordan Taylor and freshman Elena Hoecke. Minnesota went 24-10 last season and made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
As for WSU, Blažková’s departure gives other middle blockers a chance to play. The Cougars have signed three senior middle blockers this offseason: Naomi White, Ella Smith and Kryssa Moerman. They also have sophomore Lauren Johnson, who is returning from last season.
White played in the spring season more than Smith. She will likely be one of the two primary middle blockers that head coach Korey Schroeder plays during the season.
Given that Johnson only appeared in three matches last season, at the moment, it is likely that Smith or Moerman will be the other middle blocker. Smith played sparingly in the spring season, and the Cougs just signed Moerman last Friday. The spot will likely be given to whoever impresses Schroeder the most when the team returns to working with the coaches July 31.
