Photo via The Gonzaga Bulletin’s Bennett Hay
Spokane, Washington, will always be Hooptown USA. But second-year Gonzaga Bulldogs women’s volleyball head coach JT Wenger sees it migrating into a volleyball town as well.
The 2000 national champion as an outside hitter with the UCLA Bruins is beginning to prove that exactly after achieving the highest winning percentage that the Gonzaga program has seen in a decade. That includes a 13-win improvement over the previous season, leading one of the largest
single-season win improvements in the NCAA last year.
“I think on the men’s side, there’s no question there. On the women’s side, I think it’s kind of an interesting thing. It’s happening a little bit across the country where there’s more and more women moving toward girls and women moving towards volleyball. And I think one of the local high schools here, a pretty sizable high school, only had 16 girls try out for high school basketball, whereas they had I believe 60 for volleyball. There are a lot of club teams in the region. It’s competitive here. It’s definitely a volleyball town. I’m sticking with it.”
“We have a ton of support from the department and really the community too. I think that Spokane is a volleyball community. I just need to open some doors to get some people through. A lot of support and a lot of buzz in Year 1 and we’re excited about it.”
Wenger has coached at the Division I level all over the nation, reaching the NCAA Tournament with the Colorado Buffaloes, Michigan State Spartans, and UT Arlington Mavericks. He also has had multiple experiences with the USA Volleyball organization over his established career.
Building off all that previous success and leading into the challenging Pac-12 Conference slate is now the name of the game for the Zags.
“It’ll be interesting. It’s something we talk about a lot. I think that the depth in the Pac-12 is significant. I also think the West Coast Conference has been a tough volleyball conference for a long time. The top of both leagues will be kind of comparable. But I think night in and night out, it’ll be a battle. We’re looking forward to the challenge and really trying to figure out who we are as a program. One season is not a super long stretch. We’ll keep developing and building. We’re eager to get going.”
Preseason polls are meaningless, just adding fuel to the fire for both players and coaches alike. The Pac-12’s preseason poll, voted on by the league’s head coaches, predicted Gonzaga to finish No. 8 out of nine programs in the standings. Wenger could care less.
“I think that was pretty much based off of last year’s RPI. Like you said, preseason rankings account for almost nothing. Everyone has to show up and play the matches. We’ve got some familiarity with the league, obviously with Washington State and Oregon State. I’ve got some familiarity with Texas State. I was in the Sun Belt with them for a handful of years. It’s been a while, but I still know the staff and hopefully have some memory of their tendencies. Every team, every year, is new.”
The second year for a college coach on a new campus is always a tough one. Wenger will look to lean on his returning experience with three seniors in 2026: senior outside hitter/libero Maggie Rickert, senior setter Nia Damuni, and senior defensive/serving specialist Brianna Martin.
Additional upperclassmen expected to carry some of the load up at the net are junior middle blocker Taylor Walsh, senior middle blocker Dani Johnson, junior middle blocker/outside hitter Gabby Vandal, and junior outside hitter Raechelle Dykstra. All those returners will continue to help the program move forward in different capacities.
As for the newcomers to watch out for as they’re welcomed into the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre for the first time, a total of eight new names from a season ago will be joining the roster this fall.
“One transfer with junior outside/opposite hitter Claire Wagstaff, who came over from the Wyoming Cowboys. She’s expected to get a lot of swings. The other seven are true freshmen new to college volleyball. The growth that comes with that is challenging, but in a really great way. College sports are demanding. Figuring out where everybody fits, where all the pieces fit together, it’s exciting. It’s exhilarating, but it’s hard.”
The Zags will start things off at the Saint Mary’s Gaels/California Golden Bears Invite in the Bay Area with matchups against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Aug. 28, Pacific Tigers on Aug. 29, and UC San Diego Tritons on Aug. 30.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
