It’s never easy to end a great season with a first-round playoff loss, but decades of experience have taught Bryant women’s volleyball Head Coach Theresa Garlacy how to take the long view.
“We went from not making the tournament to being co-champs,” she says of the team’s recently concluded 2025-26 campaign.
“We went from not making the tournament to being co-champs."
In just their fourth season in the competitive America East conference, the Bulldogs went 16-12 to tie with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for the regular season title. The team also went 7-3 in America East play, an all-time best record for Bryant and up from a 4-6 mark in 2023-24.
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To claim its first America East regular season title, the team notched signature wins against Boston College, University of Rhode Island, Providence College, and Fairfield University before falling to the University of Albany in the America East tournament semifinals.
Garlacy said the 2025 season, which included a 50th anniversary celebration of Bryant women’s volleyball, will go down as one of the most memorable in her 30-year career as the Bulldogs’ coach.
“This was definitely a legacy team,” Garlacy says.
A 3-1 win over the University of New Hampshire on the same weekend that current and former players gathered to mark the program reaching the half-century mark was another high point in the season, says Garlacy.
“This year's athletes really felt the sisterhood with the alumni, and that's something that we tried to take with us throughout the season,” she says. “It’s not just about the six or seven people on the court, or the 18 people on the roster. You have a whole history of hundreds of women who came before you, and you have that strength from them every time you step on the court.”
“This year's athletes really felt the sisterhood with the alumni, and that's something that we tried to take with us throughout the season."
While Bryant went 18-10 overall last season, their weak conference record denied the team a postseason spot, so 2024-24 was a big step up despite the team’s early exit from the America East tournament, says Garlacy.
“This was such a great team: we’ve never won the American East regular season title before. Every time we jumped a level, such as from NCAA D2 to D1, or from the Northeast Conference to America East, my team has found a way to level up,” Garlacy says.
“For them to go from not making the tournament last year to being co-champs this year, and with our best ever record in the conference, demonstrated the leadership they showed and the respect they had for each other,” she adds. “For me, the biggest win is to see the players in each position supporting each other.”
Looking forward to next season, Bryant will have to adjust to the departure of America East Player of the Year and team leader Arianna Ugolini ‘26, but Garlacy rejects the idea that 2026 will be any kind of rebuilding year.
“We had two first-year students who played significant time on this team, so I'm feeling good about that. We have a solid base of returners and, with the recruiting class we have coming in, will continue to grow the program,” she says. “Last year we graduated four outstanding athletes, three of whom were starters. Well, we got even better.”