Morehead, Ky. – Morehead State Volleyball announces the addition of Newport, Kentucky, native Riley McCloskey to the roster for MSU Beach Volleyball this Spring and indoor for the Fall 2026 season.
McCloskey, a 2025 graduate of Kentucky high school powerhouse Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, Kentucky, spent the 2025 season at Memphis. The 6-1 outside hitter appeared in 18 matches for the Tigers making eight starts. McCloskey slugged 70 kills averaging 1.63 kills per set. She notched season highs with 10 kills and six digs against Rice on October 5.
"We are excited to welcome Riley to the Morehead State Volleyball family," said Morehead State head coach
Kyrsten Becker-McBride. "We were able to watch her a lot when she was high school, and I was always impressed with the way she competed. She brings her passion for volleyball to the court and knows what it takes to win."
McCloskey missed her most of her senior campaign at Notre Dame in 2024 due to injury. In 2022, as a sophomore at Notre Dame, she was part of a Panda team that won the Kentucky state championship. In 100 sets played, McCloskey tallied 223 kills, posting a .259 hitting percentage.
In her junior season at Notre Dame in 2023, McCloskey appeared in 93 sets, smacking 245 kills averaging 2.6 kills per set, while posting a .266 attack efficiency and helping lead the Pandas to the Kentucky high school state championship match.
McCloskey joins the Eagles with definite ties to Morehead State. Her mother, the former Megan Hupfer, was a standout for the Morehead State women's basketball team from 1992-1996. In her four seasons at MSU, she poured in 1,444 points averaging 13.6 points per game and ranks 14
th on the MSU all-time scoring list. She sank 593 field goals in her career, ranking 10
th in program history. She scored 30 or more points 35 times in her career and was a 50% shooter from the floor over her career.
McCloskey's former prep coach is Leslie Litmer (formerly Schellhaas), who starred at Morehead State as a defensive specialist from 2010-13. Schellhaas is Morehead State's all-time leader with 2,232 career digs and set MSU's top-three season highs in program history for digs her final three seasons at Morehead State. She was named the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 when she set the program record with 685 digs and helped lead the Eagles to their fourth consecutive OVC regular season championship and second OVC Tournament championship in three seasons.
