The coaching change aftershocks that we discussed on Monday when Isabela Haggard entered the transfer portal appear to be continuing. On Tuesday, On3’s Talia Goodman kept bringing the heat on Marquette volleyball transfer news with the update that redshirt junior outside hitter Natalie Ring is entering the portal.
Natalie Ring was the top attacker in the Big East this season in terms of kills per set, averaging 4.60/set. She was one of just two Big East players to average more than 3.9 kills/set this season, with the other being Creighton’s Ava Martin, who was named Big East Player of the Year. That is a career best by a wide margin for the Madison, Wisconsin native, who played in 72 matches for Marquette in the 2022, 2024, and 2025 seasons. Ring also posted career bests in digs and blocks per set, and from watching her play in 2025, it was clear that she was the Golden Eagles’ vocal and emotional leader as well.
Ring was a redshirt junior in 2025, so it’s not 100% clear whether or not this is a grad transfer situation for her since it was her fourth season at Marquette. If she is in fact graduating either in December or in May, I am curious as to why she was not honored on Senior Night, although that’s me leaning into the idea that Ring’s transfer situation is not a surprise to head coach Tom Mendoza.
If it is a grad transfer situation, then that’s just the cost of doing business when you ask a player to redshirt as Ryan Theis did with Ring back in 2023. If it’s not a grad transfer situation… then Ring’s departure tells us a little bit more about Mendoza’s first season in charge than Haggard’s does. You’d think that the clear #1 attacker on the team wouldn’t be interested in transferring out if she’s on the edge of finishing up her degree… unless she just does not want to play for Mendoza. No fault to her if that’s the case, go make the best choice for you.
Again: We don’t know the details, so that’s just theorizing.
Speaking of theorizing: If we classify Ring’s departure as part of the aftershocks of Ryan Theis leaving Marquette after the spring 2025 semester had started, then that’s two aftershocks. Logic tells us that there won’t be just two, right? One is an isolated incident, but two is the start of a pattern. We’ll see where things go from here, not to mention how Tom Mendoza and his staff approach resetting the roster for 2026 in the wake of the transfer of their starting setter and their top attacker.
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