Four members of the Arizona volleyball team entered the transfer portal before it closed last week. Starting middle blocker Nicole Briggs, reserve outside hitter Tess Fuqua, and defensive specialists Kenzie Schoenhardt and Kylie Wong are all looking for their next landing spot.
Briggs has started at middle blocker for most of the past two years. She and the team parted ways just over a month ago but she was not officially in the portal until recently. She posted her goodbyes on Instagram Monday afternoon.
Briggs led the Wildcats in blocks per set last year with 0.77. She had at least five blocks in 10 of Arizona’s 31 matches in 2023. She ends her Arizona career averaging 0.83 kills, 0.70 blocks, and 1.19 points per set.
Briggs is the only one of the four transfers who played much during her time at Arizona. Fuqua had promise, though. The outside hitter was the two-time New Mexico State Gatorade Player of the Year, but she arrived at Arizona last fall recovering from knee surgery. She didn’t see the court her first year.
Fuqua seemed to be healed from her surgery. She took part in spring tournaments. Then, she tore her ACL again. She will head home to Las Cruces to recuperate and decide what’s next for her.
Schoenhardt got some playing time last year as part of the serve rotation. She appeared in 53 sets as a freshman. She averaged 0.36 digs per set and had eight service aces. Her 0.15 aces per set were fifth on the team.
Wong joined the Wildcats as a junior college transfer last season. She did not appear in a match for Arizona.
The decisions of Briggs and Fuqua to look elsewhere have some positives for Arizona. The Wildcats were up against the scholarship limit for next season but still had holes to fill. The biggest needs are a high-level libero, an experienced middle blocker, and an experienced setter. There was no way to add those pieces to the team as it was constituted.
The two transfers free up two traditional scholarships. Arizona may also add a walk-on who takes NIL money instead of a scholarship. Fifth-year outside hitter Jaelyn Hodge will use NIL funds to pay for school next fall. The volleyball collective can then give a semester’s tuition to another player beginning in January.
“It’s better to do it that way because [Hodge is] an in-state kid,” head coach Rita Stubbs said. “It’s cheaper for her.”
One of the traditional scholarships was already spoken for with the addition of Dutch opposite An den Hamer to next year’s freshman class. Stubbs still has one scholarship and the equivalent of a semester’s tuition in NIL funds to try to fill a need. She hopes to find a libero and an experienced middle blocker with those funds.
Arizona has five outside hitters and opposites with returners Hodge, Jordan Wilson, and Sydnie Vanek joining freshmen Hamer and Carlie Cisneros.
Cisneros joined the team in January to take part in spring training and is already impressing her coach.
“She’s the glue,” Stubbs said. “You can’t take her off the floor. We didn’t even have a chance to take her off for a breather this spring. Everyone saw the advantage she brings.”
The 2024 roster currently has three middle blockers. Senior Alayna Johnson and sophomore Journey Tucker will be joined by freshman Adrianna Bridges in the fall. Stubbs is happy with the progress of both Johnson and Tucker, but she still plans to add someone with experience to help.
“Journey has stepped up her game,” Stubbs said.
The two setters on the 2024 roster are junior Ana Heath and freshman Avery Scoggins. Stubbs believes that the full year of running the team and the addition of a viable second setter to push her will help Heath.
The team has four at the defensive specialist/libero position. Incoming freshman Brenna Ginder will join sophomore Giorgia Mandotti and seniors Haven Wray and Ava Tortorello.
Arizona’s biggest loss to the portal came earlier in the year when fifth-year opposite/outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz transferred to Louisville for her final year of eligibility. The program also parted ways with setter Kasen Rosenthal, DS/L Ania Swartzendruber, and DS/L Laura Detweiler.
The Wildcats ended 2023 with an 8-23 record during Stubbs’ first year at the helm. They went 3-17 in their final season in the Pac-12. The program joins the Big 12 next season, a league she believes plays a faster game than many Pac-12 programs but doesn’t present the kind of size disadvantages Arizona often faced in the Pac-12.