With one season of college volleyball now under her belt, Kansas sophomore Logan Bell — the lone freshman on KU's 2025 team — has her sights set on an even bigger second year with the program, both for herself individually and for the team.
In Year 1 with the Jayhawks, Bell made an instant impact in multiple areas — as a hitter, with her defense and behind the service line.
She said recently that nearly every step of that first year brought with it lessons to learn and she's excited to move into her second season of college volleyball with a greater understanding of what it takes to play the game at this elite level.
She also has bigger goals than before. And they're written down as a reminder in a team-issued binder, which has the Jayhawks' scouting notes for the season and a pretty important first page.
That's where the team goals are listed. Last year, Bell said the same page had a trip to the Sweet 16 as its biggest achievement. And the Jayhawks got there during what could only be viewed as a successful first season under new KU coach Matt Ulmer.
This year? They added to the list and the 2026 first page now includes reaching the Elite Eight, Final Four and winning a national championship as this team's goals, along with their quest to win a Big 12 title and host NCAA Tournament matches, as well.
"They’re on there now. All of them," Bell said recently. "Baby steps. But you’ve gotta keep fighting until you get all the way there."
As Bell and the Jayhawks chase those goals — and the championship rings that come with some of them — we’ll follow her every step of the way in the latest edition of our weekly diary series that will chronicle Bell's 2026 season.
Some of what you’ll read here, in Bell's own words, will focus on the stuff happening on the court — big wins, memorable moments and the grind of the season.
But a lot of it will focus on Bell the person, whose passion for volleyball is almost unmatched and ready to be further unleashed.
The Logan Bell File
Age: 19 | Number: 25 | Height: 5-11 | Position: Outside Hitter
Hometown: Beech Grove, Ind. (Indianapolis) | High School: Roncalli High
Notable: Logan Bell came to KU after initially committing to Oregon, where current Kansas coach Matt Ulmer recruited her before he left to take the job in Lawrence... During her standout high school career, which featured a 35-o run to the Class 3A Indiana state title during her senior season in 2024, Bell was named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024 and also was one of five finalists for the MaxPreps National Player of the Year award that same season... She was a two-time, first team all-state selection and also played libero during her prep career... As a freshman at KU last season, Bell appeared in all 35 of KU's matches, aiding her team's run to the Sweet 16 by making an impact all over the floor... She has younger twin siblings, one brother and one sister, and is the daughter of lefty parents... Her mom, Jessica, was a setter at Miami (Ohio) and is in the school's athletics Hall of Fame, and her father, Kory, played minor league baseball. Bell is majoring in sport management and also has interest in journalism.
KU record to date: 0-0
Next up: 15th-ranked Kansas will play No. 4 Pitt in the 2026 season opener at the Opening Spike Classic in Pittsburgh, Pa. The match is set for a 5:30 p.m. (central) first serve on Friday, Aug. 28 and will be shown on ESPN2. Two days later, on Sunday, Aug. 30, the Jayhawks will take on 5th-ranked Stanford at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN in their second and final match of the classic.
With the Jayhawks opening the 2026 season at No. 4 Pitt tonight — in a hostile environment on a bright stage — we thought it would make sense to talk about Bell about the best places she has played in her still-young career.
At first, we said she couldn't say KU's home gym, Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, or Nebraska's Bob Devaney Sports Center, where the 2025 season ended in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in front of more than 8,000 rabid Cornhuskers fans.
“Man, the ones you took off the board are hard because those are both so amazing and the noise plays such a huge factor. When the noise gets louder, you can’t drown that out.”
OK. Fine. We'll let you include those two then. But let's dive in a little more. There had to be some memorable venues in high school, right?
"Right. The community I’m surrounded by in Indy is amazing. They love volleyball. My high school’s kind of like the volleyball school. My senior year, we once got more than 2,000 students to show up for a regular season home match on like a Tuesday night. It was awesome."
Bell's two trips to the Class 3A Indiana state tournament took her to Ball State University for state, where she lost in the semis as a junior and won it all as a senior in 2024.
Regardless of where she's playing or who her team is facing, Bell said she always loves the challenge of playing on the road.
“It's so fun. I love it. There’s always nerves going into those environments, but when you’re in those moments and the crowd’s on you and the pressure’s on, you go back to the basics.”
She expects her current KU team to lean on those a lot this weekend, when they face Pitt on Friday night and No. 5 Stanford on Sunday, both on national television.
Despite the excitement that comes with matches like those, Bell said her freshman year taught her that travel can be hard. That's why she's thrilled that the Jayhawks will host their home opener on Sept. 8 this season, unlike in 2025, when Bell and company opened the season with 14 matches on the road before playing at home for the first time at the end of September.
“It’s way nice playing at home earlier this season, especially because, you may not feel it when you’re in it, but the stress that travel puts on your body, especially as an athlete, is really hard on you.”
“It’s just neurological. You can maybe feel it in your body a little, but you don’t really feel it until you’re in the game or practice the night before and trying to figure out why things aren’t working like they normally do.”
Even with that said, the Jayhawks learned quickly under Ulmer that their non-conference matches will always be ultra-challenging.
"Going on the road is just a little taste of what the postseason is going to be like. We say it a lot in our gym; this isn’t for now, it’s for December.”
Speaking of the Jayhawks' home gym — 2,300-seat Horejsi, which has been the site of first- and second-round NCAA Tournament matches in each of the past two seasons — Bell instantly fell in love with the venue, which, in a lot of ways, surprised her.
See, a few years before coming to Kansas, she watched a KU-Purdue match on TV that featured fellow-Indiana native Raegan Burns, who was playing libero for the Jayhawks at the time.
“I remember looking at the gym and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so small. It’s like a high school gym. I wouldn’t want to play anywhere like that. I need somewhere that’s bigger than my high school gym.’ And I ate my words.”
“I don’t think I remember an exact moment where I was like, ‘Wow this is Horejsi.’ But I can remember the countless times during our Coaches vs. 3 drill in our pregame warm-up, where we're supposed to count out loud to 7 touches and I couldn’t hear my teammates. It’s so loud in here sometimes I can’t even hear myself think.”
Bell said one of the best parts about playing major college volleyball is the opportunity to play in and experience so many cool and iconic venues. While Horejsi is certainly one of them — and Nebraska's is another — she has a list of three that she'd still like to see someday — Wisconsin, Texas and Penn State.
On Wisconsin Field House (capacity 7,540):
“I’ve heard amazing things and that it’s just so hard to even describe the fans and the environment and apparently there’s something about it that makes everything echo and rattle.”
On Texas' Gregory Gym (capacity 4,000):
"I would love to see Gregory Gym before they stop playing in it, because they're building another gym for the volleyball team and they'll stop playing in Gregory. So, I would love to play there just because of the history behind it and it's Texas volleyball."
On Penn State's Rec Hall (capacity 6,502):
“It speaks for itself.”
In addition to those venues and some of the cool places she has already been, Bell, of course, wants to help lead the Jayhawks to an NCAA Final Four, somewhere she's been three or four times as a spectator — including last year in Kansas City — but has yet to attend as a player.
“I told Matt on my call with him when I was being recruited that I want to win a national championship. Who doesn’t? That’s what I work for every single day.”
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
