Northern Kentucky University Athletics

2025 (Freshman)

• Horizon League Freshman of the Year
• Horizon League All-League First Team
• Horizon League All-Tournament Team
• Horizon League All-Freshman Team
• Horizon League Player of the Week (11/3)
• Finished 23rd in the nation in assists per set with 10.44, ranking third among all freshmen in the nation
• Appeared in 113 sets across 30 matches
• Racked up 1,180 assists, 267 digs, 52 total blocks, 19 service aces, and 42 kills on 133 attacks
• Recorded 12 double-doubles on the season, all coming in while recording double-digit digs & assists
• Posted a career-high 65 assists on 10/4 vs. Youngstown State
• Put up a career-high 19 digs against RMU on 10/18
• Recorded 50+ assists in six matches, including the Horizon League Semifinal vs. IU Indy
• Had 30 or more assists in 27 of 30 matches

PREVIOUS: Abby Pickard comes to NKU from Michigan's Lakewood High School, where she played volleyball for her sister, head coach Brooke Francisco while participating in basketball and tennis as well. At the club level, Pickard played for the highly successful Far Out, based out of Grand Rapids. In high school, Pickard posted video game totals over four years, finishing with 2,478 assists, 1,203 kills, and 1,102 digs, proving to be a triple-double threat every night. She was a presence at the net as well with over 100 career blocks. Equally as impressive are her service numbers, as Pickard tallied 220 aces in four seasons. She was named All-Barry County three times, All-Region twice, All-Academic twice, All-State three times, and All-Conference three times. As a senior, she was named the Ionia Sentinel-Standard All-Country Volleyball player of the year. At the club level, Pickard was invited to the Under Armour Next Invite three times, was an All-American, and finished fifth, third and runner-up in three appearances at Nationals. 

PERSONAL: Abby is the daughter of Dan and Becky Pickard, and has three siblings, Nic Wieland, Brooke Francisco (high school coach), and Alli Pickard. Her sister Brooke played collegiate volleyball at Aquinas College, and her sister Alli currently plays at Cornerstone University.