SALT LAKE CITY —University of Utah beach volleyball head coach Brenda Whicker announced today her retirement from coaching after spending the past eight seasons at the helm of the Utes.
 
A member of the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame, Whicker was just the second coach in Utah beach volleyball history, taking over the program in 2018 after the team’s inaugural season. Whicker and the Utes concluded the 2025 season earlier today in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

“The University of Utah is like a second home to me,” Whicker said. “My time at Utah began as a player and I have been so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to come back here and coach. It’s been so fun to be a part of this program from the beginning and to see the growth of beach volleyball in college athletics. I have been very blessed to coach some amazing young women and I will forever cherish the relationships and experiences we’ve had together. I have learned and grown a lot because of them. Even though I won’t be on the court with them anymore, I will continue to cheer them on and support the program. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of the journey. Go Utes!”

 

Whicker completed her eighth season leading the Utes on Friday, wrapping up a year in which her team surpassed the program record for wins in a season, with 21, and earned a top 25 ranking for the first time. The previous record for most wins was set by Whicker and the Utes in 2024, when Utah finished with 19 victories. Utah upset Arizona on Thursday to advance to today’s tournament’s semifinal round.

 

“Brenda Whicker has done a fantastic job leading our beach volleyball program,” said Director of Athletics Mark Harlan. “A Utah Athletics Hall of Famer, she finishes her coaching career having led the most successful seasons in the program’s history in her final two seasons, and I’m appreciative of the guidance, leadership and mentoring she has provided to the young women in her program. They have represented Utah Athletics in an exemplary fashion in competition, the classroom and our community. We wish Brenda and her family all the best in her retirement.”

Since taking over the reins of the program from JJ Van Niel, who coached the program’s inaugural season in 2017, Whicker has steadily built the program and raised expectations.

 

Whicker earned her first win as head coach with a 4-1 victory over CSU Bakersfield in 2018. Later in her first year at the helm of the program, Utah earned its first win over a Pac-12 Conference squad by defeating Oregon 4-1 in the first round of the Pac-12 Championships.

In 2019, Whicker and the Utes hosted the program’s first home event at the Lassonde Beach Courts, welcoming Colorado Mesa and Boise State. Utah has since made the Utah Beach Classic an annual event. Heading into the following year, Utah faced its tough slate of Pac-12 opponents and national powerhouses before the 2020 season was prematurely ended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  

The 2022 season entered a new era for the Utah beach program as Whicker had a primarily beach-recruited roster for the first time. She welcomed 10 newcomers with eight of the athletes being beach-recruited freshmen. The schedule was highlighted by the program’s first regular season win over a Pac-12 opponent. The Utes took down Oregon 3-2 at the Pac-12 South Event and would later receive votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time in program history.

Whicker’s Utes rebounded in 2024 from a tough 2023 season, and finished with a 19-16 record. Utah put together its longest win streak in program history, with six wins in a row, including four straight during its home weekend. Throughout the season, Utah secured six wins by way of a 5-0 court sweep. In just its third season with a fully beach-recruited roster, the Utes set a season-high wins mark, nearly hitting the 20-win benchmark with an overall record of 19-16.

Whicker (formerly Brenda Barton) was an indoor volleyball player at Utah under current head coach Beth Launiere from 1994-97. She left Utah with the most kills, digs and aces in program history. Whicker was a three-time all-conference selection, and as a sophomore was an All-District honoree. She was a four-year starter for the Utes and was the first player in school history to be named an AVCA District VII All-American in 1995. Whicker was also the first Ute in program history to be named the AVCA National Player of the Week when she did so on Sept. 15, 1997.

She was just one of just six players that had recorded at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career while playing for Utah. She currently ranks fourth all-time with 1,565 career kills and sixth overall with 1,313 career digs. Whicker, the program’s all-time leader with 161 career service aces, was inducted into Utah’s Crimson Club Hall of Fame in 2010.

 

In addition to having played in the Salt Lake City AVP tournament back in 2013, Whicker also played a beach circuit from 2009-10 where she and her playing partner won in-state tournaments to qualify for a national event that was played in both San Francisco and Chicago. She won the Steamboat Tournament in Colorado back in 2013 and finished in third-place at the Motherlode Tournament on two separate occasions.

 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Heading into the GCC Conference Championships, Sierrah Ferguson and Anna Tyukasz earned a spot on the GCC All-Freshmen team. Using the momentum from the honors, the freshman duo went on to lead the Golden Eagles into the quarterfinal match against the No. 8 Fresno State Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs established an early lead that the Golden Eagles struggled to close. Despite offensive efforts by Anna Tyukasz and Emeline Smiley, Fresno State pulled ahead with a 13-3 advantage going into the half. 

Jumping back into the water, multiple Golden Eagles stepped up to give Concordia a fighting chance. Australia-native Lucy Aggs matched Tyukasz with two goals of her own, hitting a season-high. Sierrah Ferguson and Sofia Dominguez both contributed a goal to get things moving in the Golden Eagles’ favor. 

Goalie Jaden Soto sprung into action between the bars. She tallied 11 saves in the match, capitalizing on many of the shot attempts from their ranked opponent. By the end of the match, Fresno State had solidified its standing in the Conference tournament and defeated Concordia 21-7. 

The Green and the Gold competes in its final match on Saturday, April 26 for the seventh spot in the conference tournament. The early morning match against Santa Clara kicks off at 10 am. 

CLICK HERE for the GCC Tournament Central. 

YOUNGSVILLE, La. – Tulane Beach Volleyball is currently 2-1 at the Conference USA Championships in Youngsville, LA. The #2 seed Green Wave will contend on championship Saturday, first facing FIU in a rematch of today’s quarterfinal match.

Tulane started the tournament on Thursday with a 3-0 sweep of Tarleton State, taking down the Texans in less than forty minutes.  The Green Wave secured victories on court 3 (Sam Green / Sara Hall), court 4 (Gigi Gallegos / Sam O’Connor) and court 5 (Avery Burks / Amelia Mullen). 

The first-round win propelled the Green Wave to face the #3 seed FIU on Friday morning after they beat Missouri State in their first-round matchup.

Tulane picked up their second win of the tournament with a thrilling 3-1 over the Panthers securing wins on court 1 (McKenzie Cutler / Emily Heintzelman), court 2 (Skylar Ensign / Molly Trodd), and court 5 (Avery Burks / Amelia Mullen).  Cutler and Heintzelman clinched the match as Heintzelman recorded a block on the final point for the victory.

The win advanced the Green Wave to the semifinals on Friday afternoon to take on the #1 seed FAU. FAU advanced to the semifinals with wins over Jacksonville State and UAB.

The Owls avenged their regular season loss to the Green Wave by taking the match 3-1 to advance to the championship game on Saturday.  The Green Wave point came on court 3 (Sam Green / Sara Hall) in straight sets (21-17, 21-14).

The Wave will play FIU in the second semifinal at 9:00am CT on Saturday morning as the Panthers advanced with wins over UTEP and UAB on Friday.  The winner of the match will advance to take on FAU at 11:00am CT for the CUSA Championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Tulane 3, Tarleton State 0

1. Emily Heintzelman/McKenzie Cutler (TUL) vs. Halcomb/Bryant (TAR) 21-18, 16-9, unfinished
2. Skylar Ensign/Molly Trodd (TUL) vs. Schirpik/Huber (TAR) 21-18, 18-10, unfinished
3. Samantha Green/Sara Hall (TUL) def. Brown/Parayno (TAR) 21-11, 21-11
4. Gigi Gallegos/Sam O’Connor (TUL) def. Bendele/Mitchell (TAR) 21-10, 21-11
5. Avery Burks/Amelia Mullen (TUL) def. Chun/Ching (TAR) 21-7, 21-17

 
Tulane 3, FIU 1

1. Emily Heintzelman/McKenzie Cutler (TUL) def. Gray/Panko (FIU) 13-21, 21-16, 15-13
2. Skylar Ensign/Molly Trodd (TUL) def. Vogel/Robinson (FIU) 21-13, 21-12
3. Samantha Green/Sara Hall (TUL) vs. Drozd/Luoma (FIU) 21-19, 20-22, 12-13, unfinished
4. Cahill/Franklin (FIU) def. Gigi Gallegos/Sam O’Connor (TUL) 21-18, 21-15
5. Avery Burks/Amelia Mullen (TUL) def. Chudzik/Brown (FIU) 17-21, 21-16, 17-15

 
Tulane 1, FAU 3

1. Svoilova/Adams (FAU) def. McKenzie Cutler/Emily Heintzelman (TUL) 21-18, 21-11
2. McLaughlin/Honzovicova (FAU) def. Skylar Ensign/Molly Trodd (TUL) 18-21, 21-18, 15-13
3. Sara Hall/Samantha Green (TUL) def. Vandeusen/Wolf (FAU) 21-17, 21-14
4. Gigi Gallegos/Sam O’Connor (TUL) vs. Strandberg/Schroder (FAU) 21-10, 21-23, 11-13, unfinished
5. Starling/Mignerey (FAU) def. Avery Burks/Amelia Mullen (TUL) 21-17, 14-21, 15-8

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SANTA MONICA, Calif.  —  The Pepperdine beach volleyball team finished the 2025 campaign at the West Coast Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon.
 
With injuries hitting the Waves at an inopportune time, Pepperdine was forced to play with a different lineup than usual on courts three and five.
 
The Waves (19-15) fell to #4 LMU (35-6) in the winners bracket semifinal before battling it out and ultimately dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to Santa Clara (18-18) in the losers bracket semifinal.
 
#4 LMU RECAP
Playing to a clinch, LMU took a quick 2-0 advantage as the Lions swept courts five and four with respective scores of 21-9, 21-10 and 21-12, 21-14. Needing to win just one more court to move on to the championship, LMU won 21-15, 21-13 in slot No. 3 to seal the match and earn a spot in the title game.
 
Courts one and two were unfinished, while the Lions had won the first set on both courts and held an advantage in the second set at the time of the clinch.
 
SANTA CLARA RECAP
The Broncos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a 21-12, 21-8 win on court five. However, Emma Eden (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Ella Foti (Madison, Wis.) evened the duel with a dominant 21-15, 21-14 win in slot No. 2. From there, Kate Clermont (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and McKenna Thomas (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) gave Pepperdine a 2-1 lead with their own two-set win on court one (21-16, 21-15).
 
Santa Clara then tied the duel 2-all with a 21-14, 21-18 triumph in slot No. 3. With the duel knotted up, Santa Clara held a one set lead on court four, but the Waves were up 17-13 in the second set. However, the Broncos battled back and won the set 21-18 to win the court and the match.
 
RESULTS
#4 LMU def. Pepperdine 3-0
No. 1. Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) vs. Chloe Hooker/Vilhelmiina Prihti (LMU) 16-21, 7-14 – Unfinished
No. 2  Emma Eden/Ella Foti (PEPP) vs. Michelle Shaffer/Anna Pelloia (LMU) 17-21, 10-14 – Unfinished
No. 3. Abbey Thorup/Lisa Luini (LMU) def. Bella Avelar/Madison Oriskovich (PEPP) 21-15, 21-13
No. 4. Isabelle Reffel/Magdalena Rabitsch (LMU) def. Emi Erickson/Marley Johnson (PEPP) 21-12, 21-14
No. 5. Tanon Rosenthal/Gi Poletti Corrales (LMU) def. Kenzi McSpadden/Deanie Woodruff (PEPP) 21-9, 21-10
 
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3*
 
Santa Clara def. Pepperdine 3-2
No. 1. Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) def. Holland Jackson/Noelle Niederman (SCU) 21-16, 21-15
No. 2  Emma Eden/Ella Foti (PEPP) def. Sadie Snipes/Sammy Wood (SCU) 21-15, 21-14
No. 3. Alexandra Urbina/Ciara Cantlen (SCU) def. Bella Avelar/Madison Oriskovich (PEPP) 21-16, 21-16
No. 4. Kawena Chillingworth/Teagan Wilson (SCU) def. Emi Erickson/Marley Johnson (PEPP) 21-14, 21-18
No. 5. Callie Loughran/Ava Stoddard (SCU) def. Kenzi McSpadden/Deanie Woodruff (PEPP) 21-12, 21-8
 
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 4, 3*
 
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