After Transferring from Louisville, Bankston is Thriving as Michigan State's Top Attacker

As the ball fell to the court, Alanna Bankston slowly turned and sauntered towards her teammates, but she couldn’t contain her excitement much longer. 

The senior outside hitter had just blocked Penn State’s Kennedy Martin for the final point in Michigan State’s four-set upset win over the Nittany Lions. After a chest bump with Madi Andrews, Bankston was mobbed by the Spartans’ bench. Minutes later, she stood next to her teammates, singing the fight song and beaming with happiness. 

After appearing in only 32 sets during her first three years at Louisville, the Millard West graduate entered the transfer portal 10 months ago, unsure where her next stop would be. Now, Bankston is one of Michigan State’s top attackers in her first year in the program during its best season in a decade.

“I was overwhelmed with so much joy and proud of myself for taking the leap of faith to enter the transfer portal and seeing that everything was going to work out for me,” Bankston said about her emotions during the Penn State celebration. “When I entered the portal, I didn’t know anything, and I’m just grateful for where I’m at right now.”

So far this season, Bankston has started 17 of Michigan State’s 20 matches. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter averages a team-high 3.70 kills per set, eighth in the Big Ten, on a .253 hitting percentage.

This weekend, Bankston will face off against her home-state team, Nebraska — she was more of a Creighton fan growing up — and her former coach from her first two years at Louisville, Dani Busboom Kelly. First serve for the match between No. 25 Michigan State and No. 1 Nebraska is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. 

After coaching her for two years, Busboom Kelly will now have to scout Bankston and figure out how to stop her. The Nebraska coach said Bankston is a hard hitter, contacts the ball at a high point and plays well in all six rotations. Overall, she’s been impressed with Bankston’s growth this season. 

“Michigan State’s having a great year, and with her being the go-to, it’s pretty impressive after not having a significant role the last two seasons,” she said. “The best part about coaching is seeing young people develop and reach their goals.”

Bankston taking center stage in a Big Ten match seemed unlikely a year ago. She appeared in only seven matches all season, none after September. The Cardinals would return their top two attackers in 2026, and Chloe Meester would join the mix after a redshirt season. 

So two days after Louisville’s season ended with a five-set loss to eventual national champion Texas A&M in the regional semifinal at the Devaney Center, Bankston entered the portal to find a place where she could have a bigger role. She also wanted a team with good chemistry, a supportive environment and a chance to beat Top 25 teams and qualify for the NCAA Tournament. 

“It was definitely scary because there’s a lot of uncertainty going into the portal,” Bankston said. “I applaud anybody who enters the transfer portal because it’s very scary. You’re going in blind, honestly — a leap of faith is what it was and what it took.”

One issue was that because she had so little playing time, she didn’t have much game film to sell herself to prospective teams. However, she put together a highlight package that included some practice video. 

Michigan State coach Kristen Kelsay credited the Louisville coaching staff, whom she called her dear friends, as a big help. They talked about what they saw from Bankston in the practice gym, where she stacked up in their gym and her strengths. Kelsay was also upfront with Bankston about the uncertainty she was facing. 

“I told her on her visit. I said, ‘Listen, Alanna. I don’t know if you’re going to be a six-rotation player. I don’t know if you’re going to be an opposite or an outside. I don’t have enough data,’” Kelsay recalled saying. “‘But I need you to trust me, right? If you go to Michigan State, I want you to trust me.’”

What Bankston did have was athleticism. She could touch 10 feet, 4 inches on her vertical jump, something only one other Michigan State player could do. She has a live arm and plays physically. Kelsay could work with that. The second-year Spartan coach couldn’t promise a starting spot or playing time, but an opportunity for a fresh start. 

Eight days after entering the portal, Bankston committed to Michigan State. She said she was sold on Kelsay’s vision, the Spartan program’s values and the chance to play for another female coach. Bankston said Kelsay almost brought her to tears when she told her she saw great things ahead for her. 

“That’s just the belief that she has, not only in me but in our team too,” Bankston said. “She speaks very highly of us, and so it’s something that sold me to make it easy for me to commit to her.”

Bankston quickly got busy during the spring. She connected with teammates and learned what she was expected to do. After several dozen practices and a handful of exhibitions, she kept putting in the work, even after leaving East Lansing for the summer. While at home in Omaha, Bankston reached out to her new setter, Lincoln Southwest graduate Malayah Long, and began building their connection while both were in Nebraska. 

The two had history after playing on different club teams (Bankston with Premier and Long with VCN). Long’s Silverhawks also went 5-1 against Millard West during the three years they played varsity, though Long doesn’t hold that over her. 

“I thought she would bring it up more, but she doesn’t really bring it up much,” Bankston said. “It’s honestly funny because I forget about that sometimes. Because even when I was getting recruited by Kristen, and then I was talking to Malayah, asking her questions. I was like, “Oh my gosh, wait, this is a full circle moment because we played each other (at state), and you beat Millard West.’” 

Kelsay saw Bankston’s potential during the spring and preseason practices. She hammered balls in practice, but they went everywhere — into the open court, out of bounds and into the block. She challenged Bankston to cut down on errors by developing more shots so she had options and didn’t rely only on power shots. 

Bankston wasn’t just adapting to a new style of play, but also getting used to new teammates and a different culture at Michigan State. In August, Kelsay had every player fill out self-awareness surveys to understand the team’s personalities and identify the leaders. 

Even though she had been on campus for just eight months, Bankston was a frequent answer to many questions. She tied for the most responses for living the team’s values, such as unconditional commitment, handling conflict in a way that builds trust, and putting in the work to be great. 

When Kelsay called Bankston to deliver the survey results, she could see the tears in Bankston’s eyes and how much it meant to her. 

“What’s more important than what you can do is who you are — who you are at this program and the way that your teammates see you be a leader, see you live our core values, trust you in competitive moments,” Kelsay said. “That is probably the fastest I’ve ever had an athlete come in and integrate that way.”

While she integrated with her teammates, Bankston still had to knock off the rust on parts of her game. She’d played six rotations in club and high school, but she hadn’t done much passing at Louisville. Bankston again learned lessons in matches and put in the work as a fourth-year senior to improve.

Even though she wasn’t MSU’s primary passer, a few teams targeted her early on—none more than Washington, who handed the Spartans their first loss of the season. Bankston passed a team-high 31 serves and finished with a 19 percent good pass percentage. She bounced back the next match against Penn State, finishing with a 52.4 percent in-system success rate on 21 passes. 

“I didn’t pass great, so I was like, ‘Okay, I need to reset,’” she said about the Washington match. “Our response from that Friday loss, where we did not play our best volleyball, to coming out on Sunday and beating Penn State, was such a great feeling for all of us. We were just like, ‘This is our peak,’ and if we continue to play at this level, teams are going to be scared to play us.”

Since then, Bankston has continued to flourish on offense. She posted 20 kills in a four-set loss to Illinois, then topped that with 21 kills in a four-set victory over Rutgers, and has continued to improve as the season has progressed. 

“She’s been a rock for us,” Kelsay said. “How lucky am I to get to coach Alanna Bankston?”

Her play has helped put MSU in position to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. Several projections put the Spartans in the field of 64, as they currently sit 25th in the RPI standings. They’ve already made history this season by achieving their first appearance in the AVCA Top 25 poll since 2018. After wins at UCLA and USC, Long became the first Spartan named national player of the week since 2013. 

Entering this weekend, Michigan State is tied with Penn State for fourth place in the Big Ten. However, the Spartans face a gauntlet in their final month before the inaugural conference tournament. In addition to the Huskers, MSU faces No. 19 Indiana on Friday, plus No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 11 Purdue, No. 21 Minnesota and in-state rival Michigan over the final three weeks of the season.

This week, Bankston is focused on Indiana and the top-ranked Huskers. She is thankful for her time at Louisville and for working with Busboom Kelly. Now, she is applying those lessons at Michigan State, where she enjoys her role as the Spartans’ top attacker. 

“It’s been such a great change for me. I don’t think I could have ended up at a better place,” Bankston said. “I’m very grateful to be where I’m at.”