With the offseason fully upon us, it’s time to take a look at the state of the many athletic programs at UVA and hand out some grades.

After a turbulent recent history, here’s how the Virginia Cavaliers volleyball program is shaping up heading into the fall.

Last five years: D

The past five seasons for Virginia volleyball have, to say the least, not been pretty. Off the court, the program dealt with a coaching scandal in the spring of 2021 that saw head coach Aaron Smith and his entire staff relieved of their duties and replaced with former University of Florida associate head coach Shannon Wells.

On the court, the results have been less than stellar. The ‘Hoos have finished below .500 in each of the last five seasons, have a cumulative record of 46-84 (.354 winning percentage), and have finished no better than 11th in the ACC during that span. The 2019-20 season was the last in which UVA had a winning home record, and the ‘Hoos haven’t been able to knock off a ranked opponent in the past five seasons.

After a complete overhaul of the program just three seasons ago, it would be unfair to expect immediate dominance, especially in the always-competitive ACC. But it’s hard to justify a better grade considering just how mightily the ‘Hoos have struggled to remain competitive recently.

Coaching staff: B

Shannon Wells and her staff stepped into an extremely tough situation when they accepted the Virginia job in April of 2021. And while the on-court results haven’t been great so far, Wells has rejuvenated the program’s culture and taken important steps toward creating a winning environment.

By the numbers, the ‘Hoos are 31-54 (.365) overall and 9-45 (.167) in the ACC under the guidance of Wells, who came to Charlottesville after serving under Mary Wise for seven seasons (2014-20) at Florida. While those results aren’t incredibly inspiring, the squad has taken strides in each of Wells’s three seasons, and this fall will be the first in which she has a roster of entirely her own recruits.

There have been some shake-ups amongst the assistants since the new staff’s arrival, but the ‘Hoos will head into the 2024-25 campaign with Travis Magorien coordinating the offense, Sarah Bullock overseeing the recruiting and pin hitters, and Trevor Kennan managing the defense and liberos.

While the ‘Hoos went only 4-14 in the conference this past season, they showed a lot of growth in the non-conference portion of their schedule and managed to complete a season sweep of Virginia Tech. With Wells finally being able to hand-pick her entire roster this season, look for Virginia to take some more significant steps in the right direction.

Current roster: B-

The ‘Hoos are returning ten players from last season’s squad including leading-scorer Abby Tadder, their assists leader Ashley Le, their top two servers: Le and Kate Johnson, and three-year starting outside hitter Brooklyn Borum. With another year to develop under Wells, the returning core has the talent to take a big step forward.

Wells has also brought in seven new faces this offseason. Four rising freshmen — Teegan Hogan, Zoey Dood, Sarah Brodner, and Becca Wright — and three transfers.

Among the transfers, the most impactful addition will likely be rising senior Elayna Duprey from Virginia Tech. Duprey led the Hokies in kills last season with 222 and was fourth on the squad in digs with 121 while registering 12 starts in 26 appearances.

Wells also snagged Kate Dean out of the portal this offseason, an intriguing 6’3 middle blocker from Eastern Illinois. The rising junior racked up 209 kills last season, finished the year with a .329 attack percentage, and was third in blocks (62) on an Eastern Illinois squad that reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

This season’s roster is one of the tallest in recent memory, and with a combination of returning potential and incoming talent, should be in line for more tangible success in the fall.

Future recruiting: B

Wells didn’t enroll her first class of freshman until last season when she brought in Lilly Gervase and Meredith Reeg, but the transfer portal has become just as important for future recruiting as high school recruiting, and Wells has shown a knack for bringing in talent each offseason.

Wells signed Alana Walker in 2021, who finished the 2021 regular season second in the nation in blocks per set (1.51), and Gabby Easton in 2022, who led that year’s team in assists. And with Duprey, Dean, and Tennessee transfer Kadynce Booth arriving on grounds this fall, Wells has yet another talented crop of transfers.

From the high school ranks, the ‘Hoos have four intriguing freshman from the class of ’24:

Outside hitters Sarah Brodner (6-foot-5) — the fifth-ranked prospect in the state of Florida — and Becca Wight — who stands at 6’6 and hails from Worthington, Ohio — will add even more height to a towering UVA squad.

Zoey Dood, a 6-foot-2 setter from Grandville, Michigan, was named a 2023 AVCA First Team High School All-American and was twice recognized as an All-State playe. Meanwhile, Teegan Hogan was an All-State Honorable Mention in North Carolina as a defensive specialist.

Down the road, the ‘Hoos already have several commitments in the classes of 2025 and 2026 as Wells continues to put her signature on the program.

The 2024 Opening Ceremony is over, and the 2024 Paris Olympics are here. Most of the athletes with Virginia Tech ties are competing in a swimming event, with the Hokies sending seven swimmees to Paris.

Let’s meet all of the Hokies in the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Neil Gourley competed at Virginia Tech from 2014-2018 as a middle distance runner, where he anchored the men’s distance medley relay, securing a NCAA Championship title. Gourley has been great outside of his career as a Hokie, and in 2023 he placed second at the European Indoor Championships in his signature 1,500 meter race. Gourley is in the position to challenge for a bronze medal, it’s unlikely that he can finish higher than Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Josh Kerr, but if he has a better kick late than Yared Nuguse of the U.S., don’t be shocked if Gourley medals.

Alexander-Walker played at Virginia Tech from 2017-2019, leading the Hokies to a Sweet 16 appearance, and was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. Alexander-Walker has a history of playing in international events for Canada. He appeared in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship, and led the team to a silver medal. Coming into the 2024 Olympics, the USA men’s basketball team has been tagged as the favorite, but Alexander-Walker could help Canada compete for a silver, and maybe upset the USA’s super team.

Hill, the former Virginia Tech Hokie who graduated in 2017, is competing in her first Olympics at Tokyo. Sami currently plays for the Araski AES in Spain and helped Canada to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022. Canada’s team is currently fifth in FIBA’s ratings, and is hoping to havea similar finish in the 2024 Olympics. Canada probably will not rival the USA team at the top, but is hoping for a top-five finish, and has an outside chance at a medal.

Miró is a legendary former top swimmer, who is the head coach for the Virginia Tech Swimming & Diving program. Sergio was selected for the ISCA Hall of Fame Class of ’23, and has led the Virginia Tech Swim & Dive team to historic heights. He led the Hokies to a ninth-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championship, the highest in program history. He will be tasked with coaching Anton McKee, who competes in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke, and Snæfríður Jórunnardóttir, who competes in the Women’s 200m Freestyle.

Carles Coll Marti is a Virginia Tech Hokie who first competed for Virginia Tech in the 2020-2021 season. According to Swimcloud, Marti’s 956.95 grade places him as the 10th best college swimmer nationally. Spain’s 4×100 Medley Relay probably won’t compete for a medal, but Marti should compete as a part of it.

Ian Ho is looked at as having an outside chance at a medal, or any placement, but was very valuable to the Hokies when he swam for them. A Blacksburg local, he recalled being chosen to represent Hong Kong as “pretty surreal”. It’s going to be so interesting to see Ho compete at the highest level, and he said in a recent interview with Virginia Tech Athletics, that he would not be there without his coaches at Tech.

Dominguez Calogne is one of three Hokie swimmers who is competing in two or more events at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. At the 2023 US Open, Luis Dominguez Calogne placed 24th overall in the men’s 200 free finals, with a time of 1:51.60. 

Mario Molla Yanes is the only Hokie that will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics who will appear in three events. Mario Molla Yanes’ 4x100m Freestyle Relay team for Spain, which also includes Luis Dominguez Calogne, has an outside chance at making magic happen at the Olympics. The Spain Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Team is +10000 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the event.

Carmen Weiler Sastre is a sophomore at Virginia Tech who placed 10th in the ACC at the 200m backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:55.15. When she qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, she called it a “dream come true” and thanked her coaches at Virginia Tech. She is a top 100 college swimmer in the USA, according to Swimcloud, and will compete in two events at the Paris Olympics.

Emily Santos is a class of ’24 swimmer, who is comitted to swim at Virginia Tech. Santos’ 748.85 Swimcloud score places her as the ninth best high school swimmer located in Florida. Santos, who was born in 2005, also competed at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She swam the 100m breaststroke, and finished with a time of 1:12.10, besting Alicia Kok Shun from Mauritius and Kirsten Andrea Fisher-Marsters from Cook Islands.

Incoming freshman at Virginia Tech, Maxine Egner, is set to represent Botswana at the 2024 Olympics. This will be her first ever appearance at the Olympics, and will compete in her 100m Freestyle on July 30th.

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Linebackers is the position group on the Virginia Tech roster that is the most polarizing to me. On one hand, you return key contributors like Keonta Jenkins and Keli Lawson. On the other hand, you lose Alan Tisdale who played in five total years at Tech, and was one of the best players in the open field. It’s hard to grasp how good this linebacker room is, which may be because it is the only position group on defense that doesn’t have a player that would necessarily be deemed a “star” player.

The defense was very solid last year, placing 15th in the nation in yards allowed per game. The only areas on the defense that I would really highlight as a weakness is the red-zone defense and the rush defense, some of the blame falls on the linebackers in those situations. Virginia Tech was 105th in the nation in opponent red-zone scoring percentage, letting opponents score at an 88.57% clip. Frankly, the reason for the struggles in the red-zone, is just miscommunication, which again would put the blame on the linebackers. The other only gripe with the Virginia Tech defense last year, was its relative struggle against the run. Pass coverage was great, and so was the pressure on the quarterbacks, which made the run defense look worse than it actually was.

Virginia Tech was 68th in the country in yards allowed per rush, surrendering 4.3 yards per carry. Granted, this is not a huge number, and another reason why I think this defense is so solid, because other teams would kill to only let up 4.3 yards per rush. On the other hand, I think to be considered an elite level defense, and compete with the top dogs in the ACC, Virginia Tech’s run defense needs to improve.

It is not all bad though, as the pass coverage from the Virginia Tech linebackers is solid, and they return both starters at outside linebacker.

If there’s a star at linebacker, it is Keonta Jenkins, who ironically plays at the star linebacker position. Jenkins brings so much versatility to the linebacker room, and is an undoubtable leader in the locker room. In 2023, Jenkins forced two fumbles, caught one interception, recorded ten tackles for loss, and three quarterback hurries. Jenkins has gotten much stronger every single year at Virginia Tech, eloving from a hybrid safety, to a true linebacker that can hold his own against power four level strength. I would love to see Jenkins evolve more, especially in the run game, but he is definitely an underrated player on defense.

Another underrated player on defense is Keli Lawson, the redshirt junior who changed his number from #21 to #0. Lawson was an All-ACC Honorable Mention last year after leading the team in tackles in only eight starts. Lawson had stats everywhere you can put them on defense last year, 2.5 sacks, one interception, six pass breakups, one forced fumble, and four quarterback hurries. Chris Marve and Brent Pry are happy to have two extremely versatile guys able to start at the linebacker position. Lawson has freak athleticism, and has since high school. He played LB, DE, WR, and some snaps as a DB, and was a four-star recruit. I think Lawson is the best pure athlete at linebacker and his value to the team was and is very large.

The player who is going to be starting alongside these two at middle linebacker? That’s not a sure thing, yet. Brent Pry brought in the transfer Sam Brumfield from Middle Tennessee State, who only faced two power four schools last year, so questions have arised about his numbers possibly being inflated. Brumfield finished last season with 82 tackles, 8 quarterback hurries, and 3.5 sacks. His competition is Jaden Keller, who has started in four games for Virginia Tech, In his 2023 campaign, he tallied 23 total tackles, and two for loss.

In all honesty, it will be hard to pick between the two, even though Brumfield has a slight edge. When highlighting each team’s room for improvement, ESPN declared Virginia Tech’s biggest area for improvement was middle linebacker, and had similar things to say:

“Once a position of strength on the stout Hokies defenses of years past, middle linebacker is an area that Virginia Tech knows must improve if the Hokies are going to live up to growing expectations. Virginia Tech went into the transfer portal to bring in Sam Brumfield from Middle Tennessee State, but Jaden Keller had a great spring and could be the answer at the position. Virginia Tech has experience across the board at linebacker; if it can shore up its play up the middle, that would certainly help make a formidable front seven considering the strength of the returning defensive line.”

This is probably the biggest “position battle” to watch for as the season rolls on, and it wouldn’t shock me if multiple players take on the role of middle linebacker.

Another player who is set to reprise their role from the 2023 season, is redshirt junior Jayden McDonald. Jayden has started in eight games in his short two-year career at Virginia Tech. McDonald was a three-star recruit out of high school, according to the 247Sports Composite, and has made a bigger impact than Virginia Tech could’ve imagined. McDonald was originally committed to UL-Monroe, but flipped to Virginia Tech, and the rest is history. He made an immediate impact, tallying 3 tackles for loss, and one sack in his first year as a Hokie. McDonald should get some more starts yet again this season.

Another player I am super excited about in the 2024 season is the sophomore Caleb Woodson. He was exceptional in high school, per his bio from Virginia Tech Athletics:

“Three-year letterman for head coach Greg Hatfield at Battlefield High School in Virginia … Captained the Bobcats during his senior season … Two-time Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 6 All-State honoree … Three-time VHSL All-Region 6B and All-Cedar Run District First Team defensive back … Helped lead Battlefield (13-1) to the 2021 VHSL Region 6B championship, three Cedar Run District titles (2020-22), two 10-win seasons and a 28-4 cumulative record during his career … As a 2022 senior, he registered 115 tackles, 20 TFLs, five sacks, four forced fumbles and three defensive touchdowns, including one interception return and two fumble recoveries …  As a 2021 junior, he recorded 10 offensive touchdowns, more than 500 all-purpose yards, 85 tackles and three interceptions … Recipient of the Coaches Award … Rated a 3-star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN, On3 and Rivals … Ranked No.91 linebacker and No.33 recruit in Virginia by 247 Sports…No. 66 linebacker and No. 30 recruit in Virginia by ESPN … Rated No. 46 linebacker and No. 17 prospect in Virginia by On3 … No. 33 prospect in Virginia by Rivals… Academic Honor Roll … National Honor Society … Competed in the Junior Olympics as a competitive swimmer of six years.”

Woodson is a player that the Virginia Tech coaching staff wants to keep by for a while, as he definitely surprised with his first-year production. He’s definitely not done either, looking to replicate the kind of game he had against Marshall, every game. Yes, he only totaled 3 tackles, but he had 1.5 tackles for loss, and was a reason why Kyron Drones and the Virginia Tech offense coud keep themselves in that game.

Some other young players who could fight for some playing time are freshmen Aycen Stevens, Will Johnson, and Gabe Williams. I’m excited to see how this coaching staff introduces some young guys into the linebacker room, and put them in a place where they could make an immediate impact for the team.

Overall, I think it is fair to evaluate the linebacker room as above average, especially being that Keli Lawson and Keonta Jenkins both return as starters. This position should straighten itself out by the end of the year, and could be looking really good by the time we’re talking about playoffs. Other players like Jaden Keller and Jayden McDonald should be prepared for more playing time this year. It’ll be interesting to see what decisions are made at middle linebacker, but I think Virginia Tech fans should be less than worried about the current situation at linebacker.