Taking the Lead

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at Boise State University, Shawn Garus.  Garus is a two-time MW Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2015 and 2016 and is now in his 15th season at the helm of the Broncos. In 2021 the Broncos won their first MW tournament title and second bid to the NCAA Championship.

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with UNLV Women's Soccer Head Coach, Jenny Ruiz-Williams.  Ruiz-Williams is the first former Rebel to lead the UNLV Women’s Soccer program. She played in Las Vegas from 2001-'04 where she was a two-time All-MW player who helped her ’04 squad to a regular season title and first-ever NCAA appearance.  The former...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at the University of New Mexico, Jon Newman-Gonchar.  He’s entering his fifth season at New Mexico where he and the Lobos are coming off their second consecutive winning season and second straight MW Tournament appearance. 

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Soccer Coach at San José  State University, Tina Estrada.  Last season, Estrada led the Spartans to the MW regular-season season title, tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. She was named Head Coach in April of 2022 after serving as the associate head coach for the 2020 and...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at the United States Air Force Academy, Keith Barnett.    Barnett has been a member of the Falcons coaching staff since 2015 and was promoted to head coach in 2019. He played volleyball collegiately at Pepperdine, had two stints with the US National team, and played professiona...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Soccer Coach at Colorado State University, Keeley Hagen.    Just the second Head Coach in Rams program history, Hagen has coached three players to All-Mountain West honors since coming to Fort Collins in 2021. Hagen arrived at CSU with 14 years of assistant coaching experience, eight at Texas a...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at Colorado State University, Emily Kohan.  The new Rams Head Coach is in her first year at the helm after serving on the Rams coaching staff since 2015. Kohan was a four-year captain at Iowa from 2005-2008. During her time at Colorado State, Kohan has helped the Rams to five p...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Soccer Coach at the Air Force Academy, Laura Busby.  Busby is entering her second season with the Falcons. She graduated from West Virginia in 2004 where she was an All-American forward, scoring 31 career goals, 15 of which were game-winners. The West Virginia grad also played professionally in...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at the University of Wyoming, Kaylee Prigge.  This is Prigge's first year at the helm of Cowgirls Volleyball and she’s got the Pokes off to their best start to a season since 2014. She’s spent the past four seasons as the Associate Head Coach and was also the recruiting co...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Soccer Coach at Boise State University, Jim Thomas.  Thomas is entering his 11th season as the head coach in Boise. He was named the 2018 Mountain West Coach of the Year and has led Boise State to three of its most successful seasons in program history in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at San Diego State University, Brent Hilliard.  Hilliard earned a bronze medal for Team USA in the 1992 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the ’93 Pan American Games, and a bronze medal from the ’91 World Cup. He played collegiately at Long Beach State, where he was a four-time...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Soccer Coach at Utah State University, Manny Martins.  Coach Martins is entering his third season at Utah State. Last fall, the Aggies advanced to the Mountain West tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2013-2014 seasons. 

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at Utah State University, Rob Neilson.  Coach Neilson is entering his fourth season with the Aggies. Coming off an exceptional campaign in 2022, Neilson led Utah State to their first-ever Mountain West Tournament Championship last season, marking their first NCAA tournament bir...

On today's episode of Taking the Lead, MWN Host Bridget Howard sits down with the University of New Mexico Head Women's Soccer Coach, Heather Dyche.  Coach Dyche is entering her 9th season with the Lobos where she is a two-time Mountain West Coach of the Year honoree, has won four regular-season titles, and captured one Mountain West tournament title.