Tarleton State University Athletics

Hannah McManus-Smith, the Texan former All-American middle blocker, will enter her fifth season as an assistant coach for Tarleton Volleyball program in the 2024 season.
 
In 2023, the Texans won five of their final seven regular season matches to earn the No. 6 seed in the WAC Tournament, their first NCAA Division I postseason tournament berth. They nearly upset the No. 3 seeded UTRGV Vaqueros, falling in five sets. After starting 1-4, the Texans responded with four straight wins, knocking off Lamar and UTSA in San Antonio, before two wins at the Blazer Classic against Texas A&M-Commerce and UAB. That began a 10-1 stretch, with the lone loss a five-set battle against Alabama. Overall, Tarleton State finished with their most regular season wins in D1 program history (16), earning their third D1 winning season in four possible years. They also finished with their most conference wins (seven) since joining the Western Athletic Conference, and went 9-6 at Wisdom Volleyball Gym for the second straight season. The Texans have now posted a winning home record for three straight seasons.

In 2022, McManus-Smith tutored a freshman crop consisting of Megan Hodges, Breanna McDonough, Emma Burke and Ailie Hair who played a big part in the season. Hair made the WAC’s All-Freshman team, Hodges saw time in all 108 sets the Texans played while McDonough played in 107 and Burke in 93.

McManus-Smith helped lead Tarleton to a 15-14 overall record during the fall 2021 season and earn the distinction of being the first program in Tarleton’s Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Division I era to notch consecutive winning seasons. She mentored middle blocker Elise Smith throughout the fall, helping the junior post the best single-season hitting percentage (.363) of any Texan in the last 30 years. McManus-Smith also helped coach outside hitter Lauren Kersey to All-WAC First Team recognition for the second straight season.  
 
In her first year as a full-time assistant coach, McManus-Smith helped lead the Texans to a 13-11 overall record during their first year in Division I. With McManus-Smith on the sideline, Tarleton made history in the season opener with a sweep of Louisiana Tech for the university’s first NCAA Division I win. Tarleton continued to show it belonged in the Division I ranks by sweeping the season series against Big 12 member TCU.
 
McManus-Smith got her first taste of coaching for the Texans in 2019 as a student assistant. McManus-Smith helped guide the Texans to a 22-12 record and advanced to the LSC Tournament Championship for the sixth straight season. In her five years affiliated with the program at the Division II level, the Texans won at least 22 games every season. The Texans earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of their final six seasons in the LSC with McManus-Smith having been a part of the last five of the NCAA Tournament appearances – four as a player and one as a coach.
 
McManus-Smith was the star middle blocker during Tarleton’s 2018 regional championship season. She was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Year and All-LSC First Team, as well as AVCA All-America Third Team while leading Tarleton to its first regional championship. McManus-Smith led Tarleton to a program record with 32 wins and the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. She had 240 kills and 182 blocks in her senior season.
 
McManus-Smith finished her four-year playing career at No. 3 on the all-time total blocks list (419.0) and Tarleton’s all-time leader in assisted blocks (351.0). She totaled 672 kills on a .308 hitting percentage and was a part of 115 wins over her career, which makes her and Adrianna Knutson all-time winningest players in program history.
 
She was a four-time LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection and a two-time All-LSC player. She was a 2017 CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District honoree. In addition to her efforts on the court, McManus-Smith was a part of Tarleton’s rich traditions as a Tarleton Transition Mentor and was named Lady Tarleton at the annual May Fete pageant.
 
McManus-Smith graduated from Tarleton with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2018 and a master’s degree in kinesiology in 2021. She is married to Parker Smith.