Former University of New Mexico player Julia Warren has signed her first professional contract to join GS Ilioupolis in Athens, Greece.
Warren is a local product, a native Albuquerquean, was a three-time All-Mountain West selection in college, and graduated ranked 5th in program history in digs.
The 6’1″ (185cm) libero-turned-outside hitter played both beach and indoor volleyball at New Mexico. She was named the 2014 Mountain West Libero of the Year before transitioning to outside hitter. In her career, she had 1,201 digs and 890 career kills – making her one of two players in program history to have at least 1,000 career digs and 800 career kills during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present). She scored a career-best 32 digs in a single match in 2014, and in 2016 had 28 kills against Utah State. Both rank among the top 9 single-match outputs in program history.
She becomes the 6th Lobo to sign a professional contract during the 10-year tenure of head coach Jeff Nelson.
“I am so honored and excited to be given the opportunity to play for GS Ilioupolis volleyball club,” Warren said. “Greece is an amazing country and I can’t wait to represent UNM overseas. This is going to be a great adventure with being in a different culture and playing international volleyball. I am excited for anything that is thrown my way and I’m ready to get started.”
GS Ilioupolis plays in A1 Ethniki, the country’s top league, where last season they finished 7th out of 12 teams with an 11-11 record. They returned to the A1 level for the second time in club history in 2014, and have planted themselves firmly above the relegation zone since. Warren is expected to continue to focus at outside hitter at the professional level. She’s one of two new acquisitions at the position for the club – the other being domestic product Athanasia Liagi.
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