Former Griffon volleyball student-athlete Kayla Ruff rejoined the program in August 2025 as an assistant coach and enjoyed immediate success.
In her first year back with the Griffs, the team won a share of the MIAA regular season title for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2017.
MoWest went 21-8 overall and 13-3 in the MIAA in 2025, qualifying for the NCAA Central Region tournament for a second year in a row and the fifth time in program history. The season was highlighted by five wins over opponents that were ranked No. 11 or higher in the AVCA Coaches' Poll.
Seven Griffons garnered all-MIAA honors in 2025, while Taylor Russell earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors for a second consecutive season. Russell was also a first team all-AVCA Central Region performer.
Prior to 2024, MWSU's last NCAA regional appearance came in 2017, where Ruff was a second team All-MIAA libero and helped lead the Griffons to the program's first-ever MIAA conference championship and an NCAA tournament victory. During her 2017 senior season, Ruff set the single-season school record with 705 digs, and exited MWSU second all-time with 1,768 career digs in 363 sets.
Most recently, Ruff served as head coach of MAVS Volleyball club program in Lenexa, Kansas, guiding the MAVS 816 18 National Team from 2024-25 and is slated to lead the MAVS KC 17 National team for the 25-26 club season.
Prior to her time on the club circuit, Ruff served as the assistant volleyball coach at Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa from 2020-23, helping to guide the program to the NAIA National tournament in her final season.
A 2018 MoWest graduate, Ruff earned her Masters Degree from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, where she was a graduate assistant volleyball coach in 2018-2020.
Ruff resides in St. Joseph with her husband Brice.
