Virginia Tech-focused agency Triumph NIL signs Cara Lewis

The sports marketing agency Triumph NIL recently signed a name, image and likeness agreement with Virginia Tech senior volleyball player Cara Lewis. Lewis is a 6-foot-1 middle blocker who transferred from Maryland, where she played for three seasons. She has one season of eligibility remaining.

Lewis now joins Triumph NIL’s roster of at least 66 Virginia Tech athletes, who represent 11 different athletic programs at the university.

“Cara is a standout player and personality, who’s already seen great success building an NIL profile,” Triumph NIL partner Joey Harrington said in a news release. “We are thrilled to have her as a Triumph athlete and guide her to more success off the court, while she dominates on it.”

In her first season at Virginia Tech, Lewis was the only player on the team to start all 29 matches. She led the team with 106 blocks and her 171 kills ranked fourth.

The Hokies finished last season with an 11-18 record overall and a 4-14 record in ACC play.

As a sophomore at Maryland, Lewis ranked second in the Big Ten and eighth nationally with 1.54 blocks per set.

“I’m extremely grateful to join Triumph,” Lewis said in the news release. “Seeing the genuine care and support for their athletes is something I’m excited to be a part of and I can’t wait to see what this partnership brings.”

Triumph NIL develops NIL partnerships for Virginia Tech athletes

Last August, On3 named Triumph NIL one of the 20 most ambitious sports marketing agencies or NIL collectives nationally.

When Triumph NIL partners with a Virginia Tech athlete, one of the sports marketing agency’s partners will provide the athlete with a questionnaire.

“We warn them ahead of time, like, ‘There’s a lot of questions on this. A lot of it’s going to seem irrelevant but just go with it. Be honest,’” Triumph NIL COO Robyn Jones told On3 previously. “So we want to know about their interests. What are the things they like doing off the court?”

One example is Virginia Tech standout basketball player Liz Kitley, who enjoys cooking. In January, she co-hosted an “All-American cooking class” at Gourmet Pantry & Cooking School with owner Roya Gharavi.

“This is one of things that Liz loves doing,” Jones said. “She loves cooking. She loves tasting food. She loves fine cuisine and so the opportunity came to pair up with Roya at Gourmet Pantry, which that is her area of expertise is providing fine cuisine and teaching people with her cooking school and providing gourmet products through her store.

“That just seemed like a really perfect match and a really perfect opportunity to showcase what these powerhouse women are doing, both off the court for Kitley and showcase her with someone else who’s at the top of her game in what she’s doing and really just let them have fun with it.”