IOWA CITY — Liv Mogridge did not have Iowa picked out as her destination when she entered the transfer portal. The Lutz, Florida, native did not hope to get a chance to move away from her East Coast roots.
Mogridge, a 6-foot-5 middle hitter, entered the transfer portal after three years at Georgia Tech with one goal in mind.
Iowa Hawkeyes Setter Jenna Meitzler (11), Middle Hitter Liv Mogridge (19) during their black & gold scrimmage at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
“I went in the portal to try and go with my sister because she was transferring from Tennessee at the time,” Mogridge said. “We had this dream of like, hey, let’s go play together.”
Coming from a family of athletes, including a dad, Allen, who played football at North Carolina and coaches football at Georgia Tech, and a mom, Jennifer, who rowed at North Carolina State, the Mogridges hoped to find the rare opportunity to play together at the next level.
The Mogridge sisters’ dream did not materialize.
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“God had a different plan,” Mogridge said.
Mogridge’s sister, Izzy, landed at Utah and she found her way to Iowa. A far cry from her home in Florida or her first two collegiate stops at North Carolina and in Atlanta, Mogridge took to her new environment without issue.
“This is my first time in the Midwest,” Mogridge said. “… It was so God-led for me. It very much felt like he put me here and said, ‘You’re going to go to Iowa.’ It was really easy, and the people are great.
“The people are so nice. You guys are so nice. You love to talk. It’s such a change of pace. I lived in like downtown Atlanta while I was at Tech — very busy, very metro city. It’s just a total change of life out here. It’s nice. I like it. It’s a little calmer.”
While life away from the court is calmer now, Mogridge brings little of that to the floor with the Hawkeyes. Iowa head coach Jim Barnes described Mogridge as an intense, no-nonsense force for his team.
“She’s an instant leader, instant glue, coming into the gym and tough as nails,” Barnes said. “I get her to smile every now and again. That makes me happy, but she’s a tough kid. … The kind of kid you want. … She’s a leader. She’s driving the way for this team.”
Iowa Hawkeyes Liv Mogridge (19) during a match vs UNI at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
While Mogridge said she thought she was a “fairly smiley person,” she was also not surprised to hear Barnes’ comments.
“I am very competitive,” Mogridge said. “I definitely want to win. Our team has a ton of potential, and we very much want to get everything we can out of this season. I feel like a lot of hard work goes into that. We all love each other so much, and it comes, the competitiveness, comes from a place of love and wanting to compete together and for each other and success for our unit as a whole. So, I’m excited despite not smiling.”
Mogridge comes by her intense, driven demeanor naturally after spending years joining her father at football practices at his various coaching stops. From the sidelines at Buffalo to Georgia Tech with stops at Western Carolina, North Carolina, Temple, Central Florida, Georgia Southern, Florida International, South Florida and East Carolina between, Liv could be found at her dad’s side.
“I was with him all the time,” Mogridge said. “I worked camps for him. I just wanted to be around his job. I loved sitting in his meetings. I wanted to understand what he did.”
She brought what she learned all those years with her to Iowa City.
“I’ll catch myself sometimes,” Mogridge said. “I’m like, oh, I sound like my dad. Just like in the way he talks and the way he cares so much about his players. The two sports are similar, but they’re not the same. We’re inside — you can’t say a lot of the things he says inside. You can hear everything in here.”
Her experience as a coach’s daughter and previous opportunities also helped her readily accept a position change to become the Hawkeyes starting right-side hitter from her natural position as a middle hitter.
“I’m learning a lot,” Mogridge said. “Our coaches have been super helpful and are just helping me feel more comfortable there. I had a little bit. I did (play) a little bit my junior year at Georgia Tech because of injuries, and I have some pin experience from high school, so we’re tapping into some old habits a little bit.
“I feel comfortable in both positions, which is really helpful, especially when it was kind of a quick switch. But, at the end, it’s just playing volleyball. If I can just lock into that, have a good time, play the game, I’m pretty OK with it.”
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
