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JUNE 2021 17 BY VINCENT BRIEDIS U pon accepting the volley- ball head coach position at Virginia, the first text Shan- non Wells received was from UVA's Fralin Family Head Football Coach Bronco Mendenhall. "It said, 'Welcome to Virginia, we are so excited to have you,' and then some- thing about coming out and riding horses," said Wells paraphrasing. "When I made the choice to come to UVA and he was the first text, I told myself that I am in the right spot and that this is the place for me. "I want to be surrounded with like- minded coaches who believe in the com- munity of coaching, who want to treat their athletes the right way. I felt that during the research process of Virginia, but now expe- riencing that has been pretty remarkable." Wells is embarking on her first head- coaching position with the Cavaliers in a ca- reer that has spanned 17 years and five differ- ent assistant coaching posts. Most recently, Wells was the associate head coach on Mary Wise's Florida staff the past four seasons and was the Gators' recruiting coordinator for all seven of her years in Gainesville. UVA's unique brand of world-class aca- demics paired with an athletics department that strives each year toward top 10 Direc- tor's Cup finishes proved to win Wells over in pursuit of the goal to run her own program. "I have been looking for the right fit for about three years now," Wells said. "I have really felt prepared for this moment. The number one thing for me was the people, and I knew that was important for me by taking this leap. "I loved my experience at Florida and it was really going to take something special to get me away from working with Mary [Wise] and [assistant] Dave [Boos], and all the sup- port staff and student-athletes. I really do feel like they are in a position to win a national championship there in the next two years and with the way recruiting has been going there, that is something that can be sustained. "I spent an hour on a call with [UVA direc- tor of athletics] Carla [Williams] and [assistant AD] Jess [Wilk], and was blown away. I was blown away by who they are as human beings and the way they want to run a college athletic program. They have a vision for volleyball. WELL PREPARED Virginia Volleyball Embarks On A New Era With Shannon Wells At The Wheel Wells coached at Florida the past seven seasons and was the Gators' associate head coach the last four. During her time on staff, the team went 183-33 (.848) overall, quali- fied for the NCAA Tournament each year with a trip to the champion- ship finals in 2017 and won four SEC titles. PHOTO COURTESY UVA