Laura Neugebauer-Groff​

Laura Neugebauer-Groff has been an outstanding volleyball player at all levels, from high school to professional. She was a three-year varsity player at Jefferson High School where she helped the Mustangs win three District titles and a 1979 runner-up honor in the state championship. She was a three-time All-District selection, twice named to the All-City team, an Academic All-American, an Athletic All-American, and was an All-State honoree in her senior year. That same year she received the Tommy Nobis Award as the school’s top athlete. She is an inaugural selection to Jefferson’s Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni Class. In 2009 the UIL celebrated 100 years of high school volleyball and she was selected to the All-Century Volleyball Team.​

Neugebauer-Groff was a four-year starter at the University of Texas from 1982-1985 where she helped the Longhorns win four Southwest Conference championships. She was an All-America selection in 1985, an All-Southwest Conference selection in ’83, ’84 and ’85, and was named to the Southwest Conference All-Decade team for the 1980s.​ While at UT, she played in USA Volleyball’s national team program in the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival and for the USA in the World University Games. As a professional, she played in Germany and then in Chicago with Major League Volleyball.​

After her playing career, Neugebauer-Groff began a long career as a coach. She spent eight years as head coach at St. Mary’s University, three years at Hondo High School and three years as an assistant coach at Texas A&M before earning the head coaching job at UTSA. She spent 20 years with the Roadrunners before stepping down in 2021. She led the team to a Southland Conference Tournament championship, two Conference USA regular season titles and a 2013 Conference USA Tournament championship. Neugebauer-Groff also coached the team to two appearances in the NCAA postseason.