Published for Bluegrass Blaze fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 24, 2026
🏐 Bluegrass Blaze Fans — Feel The Heat!
Lexington’s own are done being just the hosts with the most. The Blaze opened 2026 by bringing the Central circuit to their own floor, then closed it in Orlando as USAV Nationals Silver Bracket champions. Ten players, a hometown star in the middle — wear the blue and feel the heat.
The Club
The Bluegrass Blaze women are Lexington, Kentucky’s side in the Volleyball League of America (VLA) — the women’s half of Bluegrass Blaze Volleyball, which runs men’s and women’s VLA squads under one blue horse-head logo. The women play on the VLA’s Central circuit, in the league’s single Women’s Division — and they announced themselves the loudest way a club can: by hosting. In January 2026 the Blaze staged their own invitational at the Central Bank Center in Lexington and took the floor against the best the Central had to offer. The look is pure Kentucky horse country: a sleeveless royal-blue jersey with “Blaze” in a large white cursive script across the chest, a white number centered below the script, the small VLA mark, the club’s horse-head logo and black shorts — with the libero flipping to the black contrast colorway of the same template. On the back, photo-confirmed in the club’s own championship graphic, the print is script and number only: “Bluegrass” in light cursive above one very large number — no surname, no clutter. Searching for a Bluegrass Blaze jersey, the latest Blaze roster or the Blaze schedule? Start here.
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Last Season (2026): Hosts in January, Champions in May
The season opened January 9–11, 2026 at the Central Bank Center, where the Blaze hosted the Central circuit’s opening weekend — Huntsville Nova, Naptown Nitro, Ohio Valley Unicorns and SKEVA Skebras all came to Lexington. The one Blaze result a primary source published from that weekend stings a little: Naptown Nitro, a new Indianapolis club, beat the hosts 3–1 — per Nitro’s own results graphic. The Ohio Valley Unicorns, the Central’s form team, also left Lexington 2–2 across a field that included the Blaze; the score of that match was never published anywhere, and this guide will not invent one.
Spring brought the reveal: between April 29 and May 14, 2026 the club introduced its ten-woman 2026 VLA roster card by card, every player photographed in the match jersey and badged “2026 VLA” — a squad built, card by card, toward Orlando. At the USAV Adult Open Nationals, May 22–24, 2026, the Blaze women won the Silver Bracket — the club’s own graphic declares them “#CHAMPIONS” under the “USAV NATIONALS ORLANDO, FL 2026” badge. Frame it exactly: that is a Silver Bracket title at the USAV Open Nationals, not the VLA women’s championship — the Blaze were not in the league’s published four-team Women’s Championship pool in Orlando. A bracket crown at Nationals is a crown all the same, and this one came home to Lexington.
Best Players Right Now (2026 Roster)
A quick note on the roster: the ten players below are the club’s published April–May 2026 introduction set — the squad the club badged “2026 VLA” and carried to Orlando. Heights, hometowns and colleges appear only where the club published them.
Emily Scott, Middle Blocker (#11) — The hometown headliner: a 6’2” Lexington native and University of Louisville middle whose track career, per the club, includes an ACC high-jump title. She wears the royal-blue 11 — and takes the center of this guide’s banner.
Anna Palmer, Outside Hitter (#17) — A Louisville product who played at the University of Memphis, Palmer is one of the five names the club itself highlighted on its May 2026 roster posters. Her 17 was read in blue in the Nationals team photo — a starting pin with the pictures to prove it.
Ashley Hood, Libero (#9) — The defensive anchor: 5’6”, from Morris, Illinois, a Western Kentucky University product. Hood wears the black libero contrast kit — and her #9 back, photographed in the club’s champions graphic, carries the “Bluegrass” script above the number.
Amiya Jones, Middle Blocker (#1) — Six feet three inches of Indianapolis net presence, out of the University of Iowa — Jones wears the #1 alongside Scott in a middle rotation with as much size as any on the Central circuit.
Ireland Hieb, Opposite (#2) — A 6’1” opposite from Vancouver, Washington, whose #2 was photographed in match play in the club’s Orlando champions graphic, in the white colorway of the Blaze template.
Jaime Johnson, Setter (#4) — From Champaign, Illinois, and Western Illinois University, Johnson is the roster’s setter — she runs the Blaze offense and decides which big middle gets fed.
Carol Doubet, Opposite / Outside Hitter (#10) — The two-way pin: her card prints Opposite, while the club’s caption bills her as an outside and stresses her versatility — a swing that can play both sides of the net.
Aubry Koester, Outside Hitter (#12) — From Apple Valley, California, by way of Midway University. Koester’s #12 was read first-hand in the blue set in the Orlando team photo — another name the club highlighted on its roster posters.
Natalie Schweinzger, Libero / Outside Hitter (#14) — The “Swiss Army knife,” in the club’s own billing: a 5’7” Owensboro native and Brescia University product who can play anywhere but middle. Her white #14 is the libero contrast worn against the blue set.
Olivia Carter, Middle Blocker (#23) — A second Lexington native in the middle rotation. Carter’s introduction card — the first of the series, on April 29 — shows the full kit up close: black colorway, white script, league and maker marks, blue horse-head.
Star Spotlight: Stories You Should Know
The hometown star. Every club in the VLA has a best player. Very few have one who grew up in the building. Emily Scott is Lexington’s own — a hometown middle blocker who went off to the University of Louisville, came back, and put on the royal-blue 11 for the hometown club. When the Blaze host, the crowd is not just watching a middle blocker. They are watching one of theirs.
The two-sport spring. Scott’s athletic story does not fit on a volleyball roster card. Per the club, her Louisville track career carried her to an ACC high-jump title — a championship spring in a different sport, built on the same vertical that makes a 6’2” middle a problem at the net. The approach, the timing, the hang time: high jumpers and middle blockers are made of the same stuff, and Scott is the proof playing in Lexington.
The poster treatment. When the club published its official 2026 roster posters in May — on May 23 and again on the May 28 champions carousel — Scott was one of the five players it chose to highlight and tag. The headliner billing is not this guide’s invention; it is the club’s own. That is why #11 stands center-banner, flanked by Palmer’s blue 17 and Hood’s black libero kit.
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Hood’s black libero look — the contrast kit with the script-and-number back.
This Season (2027): A Standard to Defend
The VLA’s 2027 season opens on January 9, 2027, and the women’s game changes shape: a new Women’s Tier 1 — a 12-team top flight with promotion and relegation — debuts league-wide. Where do the Blaze land? Honestly: unconfirmed. The Blaze are not legibly among the ten readable names on the league’s October 2026 Tier 1 announcement graphic, and while two of the twelve logos could not be read — so a top-flight berth cannot be absolutely ruled out — the working expectation is Tier 2 until the league says otherwise. No 2027 roster or fixtures had been published as of this guide, so the April–May 2026 ten remains the latest word. What rolls on regardless: the Bluegrass Battle, the organization’s annual grass tournament at Southland Park, is billed to return in the spring. A Silver Bracket crown in the cabinet, a hometown star in the middle and a home crowd at the Central Bank Center — the Blaze enter 2027 with a standard to defend, whatever tier they defend it in.
Mark Your Calendar: The Road Ahead
Circle the road ahead, Blaze fans — then relive the 2026 dates that put Lexington on the VLA map:
- January 9, 2027 — The VLA 2027 season opens: League play resumes and the Women’s Tier 1 debuts league-wide; the Blaze’s tier and fixtures will be confirmed when the league publishes them.
- Spring 2027 — Bluegrass Battle, Southland Park, Lexington: The organization’s annual grass tournament, co-hosted by Bluegrass Blaze Volleyball — 2026 edition: May 16. Community volleyball in the park, Blaze style.
- Relive it — May 22–24, 2026, Orlando: The USAV Adult Open Nationals — the weekend the Blaze women won the Silver Bracket and closed the season with a national bracket title.
- Relive it — January 9–11, 2026, Lexington: The Bluegrass Blaze Invitational at the Central Bank Center — the club hosted the Central circuit’s opening weekend on its own floor.
- Relive it — April 29 – May 14, 2026, the roster reveal: Ten introduction cards in sixteen days — the spring the 2026 Blaze squad was introduced to the league, one jersey at a time.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Naptown Nitro — the statement game. A brand-new Indianapolis club walked into the Blaze’s own building at the January invitational and walked out 3–1 winners — and published it on their own results graphic — which is why it stands as the one Blaze score on the record. First impressions cut deepest: every Blaze–Nitro meeting from here carries that January weekend in it.
2. Ohio Valley Unicorns — the Central measuring stick. The division’s 2026 form team came to Lexington and left 2–2 across a field that included the Blaze. The score of that match was never published, so this rivalry is framed on the meeting, never on an invented result: the standard-bearers came to town, and the Blaze saw the Central’s standard up close.
3. Huntsville Nova — the Alabama draw. Nova, the Central’s Alabama upstarts, completed the invitational’s out-of-state draw in Lexington. Two young programs building toward the same Orlando stage shared the opening-weekend floor; no Blaze score against Nova is published, so the rivalry stays a documented co-fixture with unfinished business.
4. SKEVA Skebras — the in-state storyline. Kentucky’s other VLA women’s program shared the January field at the Central Bank Center. Two Kentucky clubs, one league, one opening weekend — bragging rights in the Bluegrass are a rivalry all by themselves.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When do the Bluegrass Blaze women play next?
The VLA’s 2027 season opens on January 9, 2027. The Blaze had not published a 2027 fixture list as of October 2026, and their tier placement for the new season is unconfirmed — watch the club’s channels for the schedule drop.
Where are the Bluegrass Blaze based?
In Lexington, Kentucky. The club hosted its own Bluegrass Blaze Invitational at the Central Bank Center in January 2026; no permanent home arena is published, and the organization also runs the annual Bluegrass Battle grass tournament at Southland Park.
Did the Bluegrass Blaze win a championship in 2026?
Yes — the USAV Nationals Silver Bracket championship in Orlando in May 2026, per the club’s own champions graphic. To be precise: it is a Silver Bracket title at the USAV Adult Open Nationals, not the VLA women’s championship — the Blaze were not in the league’s four-team Women’s Championship pool.
Where can I buy Bluegrass Blaze fan gear?
Toxlay Sports offers fan-inspired apparel for Blaze supporters — fan-designed gear made for real fans. Note that fan-inspired apparel is not official VLA licensed merchandise.
Sources: Volleyball League of America (usavla.com), the Bluegrass Blaze official club channels and announcements — schedules and rosters checked October 2026.
Feel the heat — Lexington’s Blaze are just getting started.
