SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA volleyball team is en route to Norfolk, Virginia, as they are set to open up the 2024 campaign at the Quest for the Crown hosted by Old Dominion. For the ‘Runners, competition will begin on Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT, with a contest against William & Mary on the docket ahead of a 6 p.m. prime-time showdown against ODU. The squad will wrap things up on Saturday with a 9 a.m. first serve against Marist at the ODU Volleyball Center.
Coming off a 15-15 season, the Roadrunners will look to take the next step under third-year head coach Carol Price-Torok. The squad has made significant improvements over the past two years, with 15 wins in 2023 serving as a seven-win improvement and the most by the program since 2019.
UTSA led the American Athletic Conference in aces per set (1.76) and was second in blocks per set (2.43). Both figures ranked in the top 50 in the nation at the conclusion of the regular season. Junior Mia Soerensen is back in navy and orange after being named second-team All-AAC and was recently named to the league’s preseason all-conference squad. She paced the team with 337 kills last season, and the ‘Runners also bring back program leaders in Caroline Krueger, Alicia Coppedge and Aliah Giroux. Krueger dished out 40 service aces for the most on the squad, while Coppedge posted 115 blocks, and Giroux dug 471 of the opposition’s attacks. Additionally, the Roadrunners totaled nine sweeps across the season for the first time since accomplishing the feat in 2015.
Another program on the rise, William & Mary compiled a 13-15 mark, going 8-10 in conference play. 13 wins were the Tribe’s most since 2012, with eight Coastal Athletic Association victories occurring for the first time since 2009. Olivia Esposito has been a standout performer for W & M, making Preseason All-CAA thanks to a record-breaking season that featured a .367 hitting percentage and an NCAA 32nd-best 1.27 blocks per set.
Old Dominion, meanwhile, put together a 14-17 campaign and a 6-10 Sun Belt record. They were picked to finish fourth in the SBC’s East Division and ninth overall, with Myah Conway representing the Monarchs on the Preseason All-SBC squad. The senior right-side hitter has cracked the conference’s first team in the past two seasons and led ODU to 518.5 points, 451 kills, and 93 blocks.
Marist was one of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s best last year, turning in a 12-6 league mark across a 14-16 season. The Red Foxes were slotted sixth in the MAAC Preseason Poll and will have to replace an American Coaches Athletics Association All-American and NCAA Woman of the Year nominee in Sasha van der Merwe.
Keep up with UTSA Volleyball on goutsa.com, and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSAVBall, Twitter @UTSAVolleyball, and on Instagram @utsa_vb.
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