Bump, Set, Triumph

UTA’s volleyball team achieved the program’s highest single-season win total (21) in nine years and second best in nearly 20 by reaching the round of 16 in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

UTA finished fourth in the Western Athletic Conference, with senior outside hitter Brianna Ford named First Team All-Conference and senior middle blocker Paige Reagor named to the Second Team. Ford was also an honorable mention selection for the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region Team, a rare recognition achieved by a UTA player only one other time in the last 30 years.

“In a lot of ways we exceeded expectations, and in other ways, we left a little bit on the table,” coach J.T. Wenger says. “Getting a win in the NIVC was a special opportunity.”

“I feel like everything was working this season,” says Ford, who graduated in December with a finance degree and will play again next fall while pursuing a master’s in education. “Whenever I am rocking with the offense, I just let it flow.”

Wenger says of Ford: “Whatever I throw at her, she takes on the challenge with vigor.”

Reagor, who’s from Frisco, Texas, joined the program following three seasons at Charleston Southern. As a senior, she totaled a career-high 247 kills and was named MVP at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic.