Jenny Maurer, a key cog for the UCF volleyball program that has won the last five American Athletic Conference titles (regular season or tournament or both) and competed in the NCAA Championship each of those years, has been named the Knights' head coach.
Maurer has been the UCF associate head coach and recruiting coordinator the last seven years after joining the Knights' staff in January 2016—and her resume features nine years as an NCAA Division I head coach and 16 total years as a head coach. Her role at UCF has included overseeing recruiting efforts, serving as offensive coordinator and training the setters.
"It is my honor and privilege to serve as the new leader of UCF volleyball," says Maurer. "Having spent the past seven years learning from Coach (Todd) Dagenais and all the staff members who have come through here, combined with my previous experiences as a head coach, I am both eager and ready for the challenges associated with competing in one of the top three volleyball conferences in the nation.
"A special thank you to Todd for stealing me away from a D1 head coaching position to form a partnership that combined his knowledge and experience as a previous national team and Power 5 assistant coach with my knack for developing players and programs through building team culture from the ground up. This journey has been truly remarkable.
"I would also like to thank Terry Mohajir and President (Alex) Cartwright for recognizing that my impact on UCF volleyball transcends beyond the volleyball court. Regardless of my title, one of the major driving forces behind my passion for coaching volleyball has always been my ability to serve as a role model by empowering young female athletes to find their confidence and their voice while creating their own path to success. As head coach of Knights volleyball I look forward to continuing to bring in and develop exceptional young women, academically and athletically, as we push to contend for national championships."
"We are excited for Jenny as we believe she brings the recruiting skills and coaching background that will enable her to be successful as she takes over our program," says UCF vice president and director of athletics Terry Mohajir. "Volleyball has been one of our highest-achieving sports in recent years—and Jenny has been a big part of that. We are enthusiastic to see her build on that level of success."
In seven seasons in Orlando Maurer has helped the UCF attack maintain a season hitting percentage over .250—including a .315 mark in 2022 that ranked third nationally. The Knights have posted six 20-win seasons, a trip to the 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship--and the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 NCAA Championships with three second-round appearances (2019, 2021, 2022).
Maurer has mentored 2022 American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team All-American McKenna Melville (a five-time All-American and a three-time AAC Player of the Year) and AVCA all-region selections Kia Bright (2017), Jale Hervey (2016), Anne-Marie Watson (2021), Melville and Claudia Dillon (both 2022) during her time in Orlando. She also helped guide Amber Olson to UCF's first AAC Setter of the Year honors in both 2021 and 2022. The Knights' Nerissa Moravec paced the AAC in hitting percentage in 2020 and in blocks in both 2020 and 2021. Melville and Olson were part of Maurer's first recruiting class at UCF.
Maurer's commitment to academics is exhibited by the volleyball team's combined 3.64 grade-point average in the 2022 fall semester—best by any UCF team—followed by a 3.653 in the 2023 spring semester. Over the course of her seven seasons with the Knights, the volleyball program has achieved a combined 3.621 GPA (paced by a 3.7 in 2021-22) and twice had the top team GPA.
Meanwhile, Melville in 2022 was named the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American of the Year for volleyball and the AAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She also was selected to the Order of Pegasus, the highest honor presented to UCF students. Other Order of Pegasus selections from volleyball during Maurer's tenure in Orlando are Halle Scott, Taylor Wickey, Alli Sabol and Jordan Pingel.
Maurer joined the Knights after spending five seasons (2011-15) as head volleyball coach at Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois). In her first three seasons at Bradley, she led the Braves to 34 wins, the program's most victories in a three-year stretch since the 2003-05 seasons. In 2012, Maurer led Bradley to the first 5-0 start in program history, and in 2013 the Braves advanced to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2005.
Prior to her stint in Peoria, she served as the head coach at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). During her four years with the Mountain Hawks (2007-10), Maurer improved her squad's record each season and in 2009 coached Lehigh into the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2003. She improved her squad's RPI by 130 spots during her four-year tenure.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Maurer (then Jenny Cafazza) was a four-year starter and two-time AVCA first-team All-America volleyball player (1997 and 1998) at Washington University in St. Louis. She was a three-time All-South and All-University Athletic Association first-team selection and the team leader in aces as a sophomore and digs as a junior and senior as a right-side hitter and setter. She helped the Bears to a combined 85-9 record during the 1995 and 1996 NCAA Division III title seasons. In 1997 Washington finished fourth nationally and in 1998 advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
She went on to earn a master's degree in education from Lindenwood University (St. Charles, Missouri) in 2003. Maurer spent seven years coaching volleyball at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis, three times taking the Angels to the championship game of the Missouri Class 3-4A state tournament and four times playing in the final four. She also played with USA Athletes International in Belgium and Holland in the summer of 1999.
Maurer has two children: son Hudson and daughter Chaney.
Jenny Maurer's Years at UCF
Year Overall AAC (place) Postseason
2016 23-10 13-7 (4th) ---
2017 20-14 12-8 (5th) NIVC Second Round
2018 27-4 18-0 (1st) NCAA First Round
2019 25-8 *14-2 (2nd/East Div.) NCAA Second Round
2020 16-2 *8-0 (1st) NCAA First Round
2021 27-7 19-1 (1st) NCAA Second Round
2022 28-2 19-1 (1st) NCAA Second Round
*UCF also won AAC Tournament Championship