Texas Christian University volleyball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Morgan Thomas will run a Cavazos Sports Institute volleyball camp Thursday, June 2, at CSI in McAllen.
She’ll have some help from someone she recruited to Texas Tech while she coached there. Sharyland Pioneer standout Audrey Smith will return to the Valley to assist with the camp.
Smith joined the Texas Tech volleyball program as a preferred walk-on following a standout four-year career with Pioneer. She spent three years with the Red Raiders before joining the UTSA Roadrunners volleyball program last year.
“Morgan is probably one of the greatest human beings on the face of the planet,” Smith said. “She made such an impact on me and changed the game of volleyball for me. I knew I could turn to her all the time to be inspired and help me carry one. I knew I had someone in my corner to help me be the best version of myself.”
Thomas was hired as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with TCU volleyball in January 2022. She joined the Horned Frogs with 10 seasons of coaching experience, including eight years at the Power 5 level.
Thomas spent the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant at Pitt where she helped lead the Panthers to a 30-4 record, an NCAA Final Four berth and a No. 3 ranking in the AVCA coaches’ poll.
Thomas also spent five seasons as part of the Texas Tech coaching staff where she ascended from an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator (2016-17) to associate head coach (2018-20), leading TTU’s recruiting efforts and bringing Smith to the Red Raiders.
Smith is now a student coach for UTSA, similar to a graduate assistant. She said she is incredibly excited to return to her hometown and “pay it forward.”
“I hope I can be a little bit of an inspiration. Volleyball is picking up in the Valley and I have such a passion for it,” she said. “Morgan and I talked a bit and want to give everyone the absolute most they can get in two hours. We want it to be fun like volleyball is supposed to be.
“ I’m really excited to come back home and expose the Valley to more volleyball and some next-level, high intensity volleyball in my hometown. Maybe inspire someone to want to do this at the next level and to follow their dreams.”
The camp will run throughout the day with middle school training from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., sub varsity from 12:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. and varsity from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity for our RGV athletes to get the experience of learning in a camp setting and from a Division I coach from a Power 5 program like TCU,” said CSI owner Jaime Cavazos, who has run several different type of camps at his facility, located at 2900 Buddy Owens Blvd. “Being local here in McAllen, it makes it so much easier on parents to attend something like this.
“Audrey was one of the best volleyball players we’ve ever had in our area and I’m proud to have her come back to our community and give back and share some of the things she has learned.”
For more information and to register, visit csitrain.com or call (956) 451-2017.