WVU Volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny met with the media Thursday to answer questions ahead of the 2026 season, which begins Friday. Read more: Jen Greeny “hopeful” for the WVU Volleyball season ahead.
The Mountaineers are preparing for the Country Roads Challenge, a new home tournament introduced this year. The home tournament is one of two that WVU will host at Hope Coliseum.
Greeny led her squad to its first .500 season in several years this past season. However, a large chunk of the Mountaineers’ 15 wins came from non-conference play.
Overall, Greeny is “hopeful” for the season ahead as she believes the team has improved its depth and developed good recruitment.
Competing in the Big 12 has its challenges
This past season, WVU Volleyball had a hot start, going 12-0 in non-conference play.
The conference schedule would prove to be tougher on the Mountaineers as it would go 3-15 and not receive a bid for the 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Greeny acknowledged in the preseason press conference that depth was an issue for the team this past season headed into conference play.
“Last year, unfortunately, we had two starters go down with injuries, and that’s always tough just because I don’t think we were very deep,” Greeny said. “I definitely think we have more depth in our hitting positions this year.”
Greeny also acknowledged that playing in the Big 12 leads to a tough conference schedule. 10 programs from the conference made it to the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament this past season.
For that reason, Greeny stated that they scheduled opponents for the non-conference slate this season that can help the team build chemistry and give multiple players experience before conference play.
Related: WVU Volleyball completes 2026 schedule with non-conference slate
“With 10 new players, you know, scheduling for us, I think we knew we’re going to have to get used to playing with each other and get some players some experience. That’s why we kind of scheduled the way we did.”
Greeny was also excited that the team was able to host two tournaments this year as it provided them more “control” over who they were facing in this portion of the schedule.
Positive remarks from recruitment
In the 2026 season, Greeny will retain valuable pieces from last years squad such as outside hitter Nina Horning, opposite hitter Trinity Sheridan, middle blocker Maddy McGath, and setter Alexis Finnvold.
Related: One month out: WVU Volleyball
Greeny believes that WVU has done a good job with recruitment and navigating the transfer portal in recent years.
“We have had more success, I think, bringing people in from the transfer portal,” Greeny said. “We haven’t really, you know, lost to many people unless, you know, we’ve wanted to maybe make some changes ourselves.”
Despite good retention, WVU Volleyball does have more newcomers than returners this season. Eight of the 10 new players are freshmen.
Greeny hopes that they teach the new players well and that they will choose to “stay and make strides” to become better with WVU beyond this season.
WVU Volleyball’s roster also features no players from West Virginia. The players are from a variety of locations, including national and international spots.
Greeny, who is from Pullman, Washington, stated that coming from somewhere that was not known for volleyball has helped her gain valuable experience in recruiting.
“We kind of like, you know, having our roster that way. I think it brings, you know, great flexibility and different personalities to the table… going out and trying to find those players that can help us, you know, we’ll go wherever we need to.”
Ten different US states and four additional countries are represented on the roster.
Hopes for the future
WVU Volleyball plays its games in Hope Coliseum, a 14,000-seat arena it shares with WVU’s basketball programs. The team also shares practice facilities with the basketball teams as well.
Greeny believes that because the coliseum is so big, it is difficult for the program to generate a home-court advantage that a smaller arena would provide.
“We’re trying to get as many fans as we can and create that environment, but it’s tough with that many seats.”
While it is out of Greeny and the volleyball team’s control, she hopes that maybe one day it can receive its own facilities.
Related: WVU Volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny exclusive: building culture, attendance growth
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