A Decade in C-USA: Volleyball
UTSA Volleyball saw change in decade of Conference USA membership
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the second in a series of stories about the UTSA teams during their 10 year run as members of Conference USA.
Previously in the series: SOCCER
When UTSA joined Conference USA on July 1, 2013 one of the best teams on campus was the Roadrunner volleyball team.
The Roadrunners had won the Southland Conference regular season championship and conference championship in 2010, lost in the SLC tournament final in 2011 and were semifinalists in the WAC tournament in 2012.
In the three years leading up to joining Conference USA, UTSA volleyball had gone 65-32 overall and 40-10 in their two conferences, including a 13-5 mark in their only year in the WAC.
Leading the Roadrunners into Conference USA was Laura Neugebauer-Groff. Neugebauer Groff had been head coach of UTSA since the 2002 season. In the nine years leading up to joining Conference USA she had a 189-161 record with the Roadrunners.
UTSA continued its success into Conference USA. The Roadrunners won the regular season championship and conference tournament in its first year in Conference USA. A year later, in 2014 UTSA earned a share of the regular season championship but lost in the conference tournament semifinals.
The first two years in Conference USA the Roadrunner Volleyball team went 28-2 in conference games and 44-17 overall. UTSA hosted the conference tournament in 2015 but lost the championship game to Western Kentucky.
UTSA won at least 20 games in each of its first four seasons in Conference USA but in its final six seasons in Conference USA it only reached 19 wins once while falling short of double digit wins overall in its final three seasons in the conference.
In 10 years as members of Conference USA the Roadrunner volleyball team went 158-117 overall and 92-48 in conference games. The Convocation center was a tough place for opponents as UTSA volleyball was 69-35 at home compared to 53-52 on the road and 36-30 in neutral site games.
Neugebauer-Groff led the Roadrunners through the 2021 season when she retired after finishing with a career total of 339-260 at UTSA. In her nine years leading the team through Conference USA, Neugebauer Groff was 150-99 overall and 89-37 in conference games. In its first nine years in Conference USA the Roadrunner volleyball team was 9-6 in conference tournament games and made two postseason trips, to the NCAA tournament in 2013 and the NIVC tournament in 2019.
In 2022 UTSA had a new head coach as Carol Price-Torok took over the program. In her lone year coaching the Roadrunners in Conference USA, Price-Torok led the Roadrunners to an 8-18 overall record and a 3-11 record in conference games.
| Coach | Overall record in C-USA era | Conf. record in C-USA | Postseason trips in C-USA era | Years at UTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Laura Neugebauer-Goff |
150-99 |
89-37 |
2 (2013 NCAA & 2019 NIVC) |
2002-21 |
|
Carol Price-Torok |
8-18 |
3-11 |
None |
2022- |
Notable moments and Players
A lot of the great moments for UTSA's volleyball team in Conference USA came in the early years of their membership as their success from the late Southland years carried over.
The 2013 Roadrunners went into the NCAA tournament having won 16 of their last 17 games before being swept by Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA's Net Madness. The 24 wins by the 2013 team would remain the most won by any UTSA volleyball team in their tenure in Conference USA.
Leading the way for that 2013 team was McKenzie Adams with 640 kills. Annie Kunes led with 545 digs. Jessica Waldrip led the Roadrunners with 754 assists.
Waldrip and Kunes would also be part of the 2014 and 2015 Roadrunner teams. Another key contributor on the early Roadrunner teams in Conference USA was Dajana Boskovic. Boskovic was a Roadrunner from 2013-2016 and was second on the team for kills in 2013 and 2014 before becoming the kill leader in 2015 and 2016. Boskovic finished with 1,608 kills at UTSA.
The 2019 Roadrunners finished 16-14 and lost in the conference semifinals but were able to earn a spot in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships where they fell to UT-Arlington 3-2 in the first round. That team was led by Kirby Smith (238 digs and 260 kills), Hannah Lopez (280 kills) and Courtney Walters (823 assists).
Now the Roadrunner volleyball team prepares to embark on their next conference when they join the American on July 1. They might not be flying as high into it as they were into Conference USA 10 years ago but the program has shown in the past it can be a championship caliber program.
The question now is how long will it take for the Roadrunner volleyball team to get back to the heights it reached a decade ago in its early days in Conference USA.
Next in the series: Football
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