Utah Valley University Women's Volleyball

Andrew Richards enters his sixth season on the UVU staff in 2026. Following a successful playing career that included multiple Mountain West Conference Championships and a Mountain West Conference MVP award, Richards, got into coaching being heavily involved in the club circuit with various roles with the Club V, Aces Athletics, and Utah Elite. During this time, he served in various positions, including club owner, director, and head coach.  While at Utah Valley, Richards has helped with two WAC Players of the Year, an AVCA All-American, and a Pacific All-Region recipient. 13 players have received All-WAC honors under Richards’s assistance, the Wolverines have won the 2025 WAC Regular Season Championship, and Tournament titles for the first time. They have won three WAC Tournament Titles with Richards, and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and an NIVC Appearance. After returning to UVU to coach the club team during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, Richards moved on to the D1 level at the University of Utah as a Volunteer Assistant in 2014 and stayed on staff for 2015. In 2017 serving as the Volunteer Assistant, Richards helped guide the Utes to a Sweet 16 Appearance.  Richards comes from a volleyball family, including his mother, former UVU head coach Lori Richards, who led the program for 18 years from 1981 to 1998. Andrew has three siblings who played D1 and International volleyball, including sister Kristen (Stanford), sister Lauren (BYU), and brother Taylor (BYU). Both parents played college volleyball at BYU.  Andrew enjoys traveling, playing golf, and spending time with his family in his free time. He and his wife Julie have two children,   

Nitta begins his fifth season as an Assistant on Atoa’s staff and spent two previous seasons as the Director of Operations. It’s his second stint at Utah Valley after spending three seasons on Lori Richard’s staff when UVU as a junior college.   Utah Valley has made three NCAA Tournament appearances with Nitta on staff, with three WAC Tournament titles, and the 2025 WAC Regular Season Championship. The Wolverines have made two appearances in the NIVC and earned two postseason victories, including their first postseason win at the D1 level in 2018. 23 student-athletes have earned All-WAC honors since he joined the staff, including two WAC Player of the Year honors, and one AVCA All-American while over 50 have earned Academic All-WAC honors.   Nitta started the UVU Club Volleyball Team in 1992 and served as the player-coach, he was later named an NIRSA All-American. After graduating from UVU in 1997, he spent one season as a volunteer assistant at BYU.   He also worked in the Utah club circuit, including time as the lead coach for Club Utah and Club V.   Nitta worked outside of volleyball as a Vice President of Pronaia Capital from 1998-2002 and served as President of Yamagata Foundation. This foundation helped students start small businesses and helped BYU Hawaii with an Internship program for International Students.   In his free time, Nitta enjoys golf, sports, and music. He is a father of four children.