Brenda Whicker

Head Coach

Former Utah Volleyball standout Brenda Whicker enters her sixth season as the head coach of the beach volleyball program in 2022-23. Whicker is the second head coach in Utah beach volleyball history after taking over the reigns following the program’s inaugural season.

The 2022 season entered a new era for the Utah beach program as Whicker had a primarily beach-recruited roster for the first time. Whicker welcomed 10 newcomers with eight of the athletes being beach-recruited freshmen. Utah picked up a win over San Jose State 3-2 on the road for its first win of the season, while the schedule was later highlighted by the program’s first regular season win over a Pac-12 opponent in history. The Utes took down Oregon 3-2 at the Pac-12 South Event and would later receive votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time in program history.

In 2019, Whicker guided the Utes to wins over San Francisco (3-2), Abilene Christian (5-0) and Colorado Mesa (3-2) to highlight the year. Whicker and the Utes hosted the program’s first-ever home event at the Lassonde Beach Courts, welcoming Colorado Mesa and Boise State. Heading into the following year, Utah faced its tough slate of Pac-12 opponents and national powerhouses before the 2020 season was prematurely ended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Whicker earned her first win as head coach with a 4-1 victory over CSU Bakersfield in 2018. Later in her first year at the helm of the program, Utah earned its first win over a Pac-12 Conference squad after defeating Oregon 4-1 in the first round of the Pac-12 Championships.

Whicker (formerly Brenda Barton) was an indoor volleyball player at Utah under current indoor volleyball head coach Beth Launiere from 1994-97. Whicker left Utah with the most kills, digs and aces in program history. She was a three-time all-conference selection, and as a sophomore was an All-District honoree. Whicker was a four-year starter for the Utes and was the first player in school history to be named an AVCA District VII All-American in 1995. Whicker was also the first Ute in program history to be named the AVCA National Player of the Week when she did so on Sept. 15, 1997.

She was just one of just six players that had recorded at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career while playing for Utah. She currently ranks fourth all-time with 1,565 career kills and fifth overall with 1,313 career digs. She is the program’s all-time leader with 161 career service aces to this day. In 2010, she was inducted into the Crimson Club Hall of Fame.

In addition to having played in the Salt Lake City AVP tournament back in 2013, Whicker also played a beach circuit from 2009-10 where she and her playing partner won in-state tournaments to qualify for a national event that was played in both San Francisco and Chicago. She won the Steamboat Tournament in Colorado back in 2013 and finished in third-place at the Motherlode Tournament on two separate occasions.