Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
Brian Wright enters his second season leading the Rockets in 2026.
Preseason Q&A with Head Coach Brian Wright
8/27/2026 1:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Second-year leader discusses program expectations, returning much of the 2025 roster and hosting notable non-conference matches
Head coach Brian Wright enters into his second season leading the Toledo women's volleyball program. The Rockets return 12 letterwinners from last season's Mid-American Conference championship squad while welcoming in five transfers and three freshmen. After clinching the program's first ever conference title, the Rockets look to stay at the top of the league.
The 2025 team made history by winning the MAC Tournament and competing in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament. Did winning the conference title change expectations and mindsets within the program?
Wright: I think that winning the MAC last season showed our players and the city of Toledo what we're capable of on top of obviously creating momentum. The momentum helped us recruit the transfer portal well and led to us training really well all spring, which is something I'm super proud of. We brought new people into the fold, really went for it in the spring and made a lot of improvements. The team knows what the standards are and they know that those standards can create amazing results. It's no longer me telling the team, 'hey, trust me', but instead there is a group of people that's all saying 'hey, trust us. This works and we can reach our goals.' There's also a lot of hard work that goes on in our gym that will help us get to those goals.
Following a good training period in the spring and these few weeks that you've had the entire team on campus, what has stood out to you the most?
Wright: We brought in Lilly (Merk) and our three freshmen (Audrey Dyas, Jadyn Kennedy and Lucy Monahan) so there's four people in our gym for the first time and this is the staff's first introduction to our entire 2026 team. The coolest thing is that there are so many players from this year's team that were here in the spring so the volleyball IQ and understanding of our systems and concepts that are important to winning are solidified with them. A lot of that doesn't have to come from our staff right now and the team is able to help each other get things done, so that's been awesome. What also stood out to me is how connected this group is. They treat each other well and work hard consistently. They've been bringing great energy and intentionality into practices for the past three weeks.
You have eight newcomers this season - five transfers and three freshmen. What has impressed you the most about them?
Wright: They all know why they want to be here. They're all bought into being great on the court and training in a way to help win championships as well as being great outside of the gym, especially in the classroom. Each of them bought into the momentum that was created in the city by leading the MAC in attendance last year and wanting to be a part of that community and wanting to see it grow. It's been amazing to see that so many people in the city already know our newcomers by name and we haven't even played a regular season contest yet. That is a testament to the city and our supporters who want to get to know this team. It's also a testament to the student-athletes and their willingness to build these connections with our supporters, so it's been fun to see the growth in relationships.
In the gym, these newcomers bring an incredible depth of competition in every single position. That gives us more opportunities of how we can be successful on any given weekend, but it also makes practice extremely competitive. They're buying into the intentionality. They're absolutely going for it and doing all the things on the court that our staff has asked them to do, but they're also helping make everyone around them better.
You return 12 student-athletes from the 2025 championship season. What do they continue to bring to this program?
Wright: Our returners are constants for our team, they're steady and consistent which is amazing, but they also have this confidence around them from the community that supports them. I don't think people realize just how much that the support we get from the city shows this team how much of an impact they can have on this world. They are quickly learning that by doing something really well every day it is helping to make this world a better place and making this program, university and city a better place. The returners bring an excitement and energy to everything they do while being this amazingly steady and consistent group of human beings.
The team is hosting some notable non-conference matches at Savage Arena this season, including Notre Dame, Missouri and Dayton. Can you talk about what it means to the program to welcome these teams to our community and how exciting it is to have these matches on our home court?
Wright: It's awesome to have three more home matches than we did last season, especially for our team and our fans is incredible. We're bringing in a variety of teams from all over the country and that is really fun to keep showing our city everything that volleyball can be. When you bring in names of teams that fans know, it gives us a chance to grow the sport. Not only are we trying to grow Toledo volleyball and make sure the city recognizes that this is one of the most amazing things they can do with their time from August through November, but we're also trying to do our part in showing the entire country how far volleyball has come.
If someone watches this team for the first time this season, what do you hope they notice immediately?
Wright: I hope everyone can take away just how much fun we have while working hard - our ability to compete and go for it and be gritty while giving it our best in all moments, all the time while still being ourselves and treating each other well. We have a blast doing it all in our own fun, random ways.Â
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The 2025 team made history by winning the MAC Tournament and competing in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament. Did winning the conference title change expectations and mindsets within the program?
Wright: I think that winning the MAC last season showed our players and the city of Toledo what we're capable of on top of obviously creating momentum. The momentum helped us recruit the transfer portal well and led to us training really well all spring, which is something I'm super proud of. We brought new people into the fold, really went for it in the spring and made a lot of improvements. The team knows what the standards are and they know that those standards can create amazing results. It's no longer me telling the team, 'hey, trust me', but instead there is a group of people that's all saying 'hey, trust us. This works and we can reach our goals.' There's also a lot of hard work that goes on in our gym that will help us get to those goals.
Following a good training period in the spring and these few weeks that you've had the entire team on campus, what has stood out to you the most?
Wright: We brought in Lilly (Merk) and our three freshmen (Audrey Dyas, Jadyn Kennedy and Lucy Monahan) so there's four people in our gym for the first time and this is the staff's first introduction to our entire 2026 team. The coolest thing is that there are so many players from this year's team that were here in the spring so the volleyball IQ and understanding of our systems and concepts that are important to winning are solidified with them. A lot of that doesn't have to come from our staff right now and the team is able to help each other get things done, so that's been awesome. What also stood out to me is how connected this group is. They treat each other well and work hard consistently. They've been bringing great energy and intentionality into practices for the past three weeks.
You have eight newcomers this season - five transfers and three freshmen. What has impressed you the most about them?
Wright: They all know why they want to be here. They're all bought into being great on the court and training in a way to help win championships as well as being great outside of the gym, especially in the classroom. Each of them bought into the momentum that was created in the city by leading the MAC in attendance last year and wanting to be a part of that community and wanting to see it grow. It's been amazing to see that so many people in the city already know our newcomers by name and we haven't even played a regular season contest yet. That is a testament to the city and our supporters who want to get to know this team. It's also a testament to the student-athletes and their willingness to build these connections with our supporters, so it's been fun to see the growth in relationships.
In the gym, these newcomers bring an incredible depth of competition in every single position. That gives us more opportunities of how we can be successful on any given weekend, but it also makes practice extremely competitive. They're buying into the intentionality. They're absolutely going for it and doing all the things on the court that our staff has asked them to do, but they're also helping make everyone around them better.
You return 12 student-athletes from the 2025 championship season. What do they continue to bring to this program?
Wright: Our returners are constants for our team, they're steady and consistent which is amazing, but they also have this confidence around them from the community that supports them. I don't think people realize just how much that the support we get from the city shows this team how much of an impact they can have on this world. They are quickly learning that by doing something really well every day it is helping to make this world a better place and making this program, university and city a better place. The returners bring an excitement and energy to everything they do while being this amazingly steady and consistent group of human beings.
The team is hosting some notable non-conference matches at Savage Arena this season, including Notre Dame, Missouri and Dayton. Can you talk about what it means to the program to welcome these teams to our community and how exciting it is to have these matches on our home court?
Wright: It's awesome to have three more home matches than we did last season, especially for our team and our fans is incredible. We're bringing in a variety of teams from all over the country and that is really fun to keep showing our city everything that volleyball can be. When you bring in names of teams that fans know, it gives us a chance to grow the sport. Not only are we trying to grow Toledo volleyball and make sure the city recognizes that this is one of the most amazing things they can do with their time from August through November, but we're also trying to do our part in showing the entire country how far volleyball has come.
If someone watches this team for the first time this season, what do you hope they notice immediately?
Wright: I hope everyone can take away just how much fun we have while working hard - our ability to compete and go for it and be gritty while giving it our best in all moments, all the time while still being ourselves and treating each other well. We have a blast doing it all in our own fun, random ways.Â
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