UWF Volleyball: Melissa Wolter begins 20th season as Argos head coach as team projects to thrive, again

The sheer numbers behind Melissa Wolter’s successful tenure as the University of West Florida head volleyball coach are staggering.

The Argos have made sixteen consecutive appearances to the NCAA Tournament. They have won the Gulf South Conference regular-season title in 14 of the last 15 seasons while hoisting the league tournament crown 11 of the last 14 occasions.

As she enters her 20th season at the helm at UWF and readies yet another talent roster for a long and grueling season, the formula behind those heights predictably won't change anytime soon.

“I think the mentality is the same, which is to do our best, chase championships and develop into a team that’s hard to beat,” Wolter said. “Obviously, it changes based on the personnel that you have, but I think our standard, our focus and the goals that we have remain the same year in and year out.”

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The 2023 season tips off this weekend as West Florida serves as one of the hosts of the fourth-annual Springhill Suites Invitational.

The Argos’ first match gets underway at 6 p.m. Thursday against Wheeling from the UWF Fieldhouse. Two days later, UWF is scheduled to play Oklahoma Baptist at 9 a.m. before taking on Southwest Minnesota State at 4:30 p.m.

Coming off a 2022 campaign where they finished with a 28-6 record, the Argos are projected to continue their conference dominance. The team was picked first in the GSC preseason coaches poll and is ranked 12th nationally in the AFCA Division II preseason poll.

Those coaches and prognosticators expect UWF to be around once the postseason arrives, but Wolter isn’t interested in looking ahead to a certain stretch of the season. Now, the focus is on building relationships, seeing what the players are driven by and formulating options within the lineup.

“Our program is one that’s always looking for that next level that we can attain from a success standpoint, but we want to really make sure we’re focused on the process and be the best possible version of ourselves, from every single one of our players to our staff,” she said. “We have a great tradition behind us, but we’re always trying to enhance that tradition and enhance that culture every year with the new group we get to work with.”

Team depth a strength

Three of the top options returning to the lineup are juniors Avery Rodgers, Jenna Zydlo and Alex Oliver.

Rodgers, a right-side hitter, is coming off an All-GSC Second Team campaign where she ranked fifth in the conference with 2.79 kills per set. Zydlo was an All-Region performer as she was second in the GSC with a .378 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Oliver produced 11 double-digit kill matches a year ago.

However, West Florida won’t simply be reliant on that trio for its production as Wolter believes the strength of this team is how deep the roster, including on attack.

“We have multiple other people who could lead us in kills on any given night,” Wolter said. “So it’s not going to fall on three people, it’s not going to fall on one person. I think the depth and the strength by position of this team will be one of our great attributes this year.”

Oliver adds, “I was very grateful and thankful to be picked for that. I think it is an honor, but I don’t really read too much into the awards. Coach always tells us that outside things are going to happen, you just have to let them happen. But as long as we keep our core tight, we’re just going to try and keep winning games. That’s all I really want to do.”

Much of that depth was created by being active in the transfer portal.

Formerly a South Regional rival, junior right-side hitter Damyah Joyner joined the Argos after previously playing for Eckerd. Delaware State transfer Yomaris Rodrgiuez will help on the back line as a sophomore defensive specialist. Elsewhere, redshirt junior outside hitter Annie Monaco (Robert Morris), redshirt junior defensive specialist Erin Thompson (Southwestern Oklahoma State) and graduate middle hitter Bailee Sterling (Nebraska-Kearney) will also vie for playing time.

The Argos additionally have members from their freshman class that are expected to see plenty of time on the floor in hitters Emily Breazeale, Caiden Largent and Kumara Flanagain along with setter Gabi Moulton.

Oliver was once a wide-eyed freshman joining the program, but as one of the longest-tenured Argos, she welcomes the wealth of new talent.

“I do feel like I know a lot more about the game since I have been playing it for a while and just because of the level I’m playing it now. My knowledge is so much greater than it was, but that doesn’t make me above any person, and with the new people that we have, and let me tell you, they can ball. This is a really good group that Coach has brought in and they push me in ways that I haven’t been pushed before.”

Along with Oliver, Meg Bracken is a team veteran. The vocal junior libero will share defensive duties with Thompson and sophomore transfer Yomaris Rodriguez.

Leading from the bench

For all the gains West Florida enjoys, the program suffered a major loss on the floor after longtime leader Taylor Vaneekeren saw her playing career come to a close.

Named a First-Team All-American in 2021, the decorated setter finished with the most sets played and second-most assists in program history. But her presence to the program is still being felt from the bench as Vaneekeren was named an assistant coach during the summer.

Despite the big learning curve from being a player to becoming a coach, Wolter says the transition for Vaneekeren has been a fairly smooth one.

“We’ve done our best to navigate this together and keep an open line of communication between the players and the staff on how we’re going to make this work,” Wolter said. “It’s been a lot easier than any of us anticipated it would be just basically because she’s a winner and she loves this program and institution. She’s bought in, but in a different way, which is how can I help this team win from the sidelines.”

Serving as an understudy to Vaneekeren in recent years, redshirt-junior Stephanie Barber will be among the players to take over the setter position. Moulton and sophomore Izabelle Sanchez are expected to be in the mix whether the team plays a 5-1 rotation or a 6-2.

“Everyone has had to up their leadership game. You can’t lose a player and person of Taylor’s caliber and expect one person to pick up the pieces, that’s just not how it works,” Wolter remarked.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: NCAA Volleyball: West Florida set to start season with Springhill Suites Invite