Roster
Schedule
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- On the heels of one of the best seasons in recent memory, the West Chester women's volleyball team is eager to return to the court in 2022 to build off its success a season ago. West Chester will begin its 2022 journey on Friday afternoon inside Hollinger Field House with its annual Ram Fest Tournament, beginning with a 2 p.m. match opposite Goldey Beacom College.
This match vs Goldey-Beacom will be the first of a busy four-match weekend for the Golden Rams as they will return to the court at 6 p.m. on Friday evening vs. Georgian Court before facing Le Moyne and Franklin Pierce at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday in Hollinger. Check out the full Ram Fest schedule and important information on getting to campus this weekend, amid new and returning student move-in
here.
THE FIRST SERVE
In the fall 2021 season, West Chester played to a record of 22-8 overall and 10-4 in league play, returning to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since the end of the 2017 season. West Chester entered as the third seed and fell to No. 2 seed Shepherd in a hard-fought match to bring the Golden Rams historic season to a close. During the Golden Rams impressive 22-win season (which was the most single-season wins since the Purple and Gold won 24 matches in 2017), the team won 17-of-19 matches (a nine-match win streak followed by an eight-match winning streak) and had three All-Conference honorees for the first time since the end of the 2018 season.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) and
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) each earned First Team honors, while
Olivia Rudjord (Fogelsville, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) collected Second Team honors. Byrne and Vreeswyk were the team's first First Team honorees since the 2017 season when
Jillian Grammer (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) accomplished the feat, and it was the first time since the 2009 season that the Golden Rams celebrated two First Team All-Conference honorees in the same season.
In the
preseason coaches poll released at the end of last week, West Chester was picked to finish third in the PSAC East, with one first-place vote, trailing only reigning PSAC East Champion East Stroudsburg and Shepherd.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester graduated a number of key contributors from a season ago, including the likes of
Julia Vreeswyk,
Olivia Rudjord,
Grace Whitney,
Maddy Moore, and
Sarah Polacek, to name a few. However, the Golden Rams do return a number of key players from a season ago, including First Team All-PSAC selection in setter Byrne and the PSAC Ace leader for much of the season in
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) along with captains
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), and
Maria Harding (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth).
Harding, who ranked fifth on the squad in kills a year ago, is the leading returning player in this category following the graduation of Vreeswyk, Polacek, Rudjord, and Whitney; however, West Chester does return its leaders in assists (Byrne-1,010), digs (Heffner-415), and aces (Heffner-60). Byrne was a versatile threat both offensively and defensively for West Chester a season ago as she also ranked second on the team in digs with 292 while ranking third in aces with 28 and fourth in blocks with 43.
In addition to the return of Byrne, Heffner, Lewis, and Harding, West Chester also returns
Paige Monastero (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), Ali Miller (Enola, Pa./Cumberland Valley), Lexi Niedrowski (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson), and Jillian Bordgerding (Highlands Ranch, Co./Highlands Ranch). Miller and Monastero each turned in strong 2021 seasons as well, ranking fourth and fifth in aces with 25 and 21, respectively, while also ranking third and fourth in digs with 205 and 181, respectively.
Along with the returning core, West Chester welcomes a host of new Golden Rams as
Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland), Lex Caltibano (Woolwich Twp., N.J./Gloucester County Institute of Technology), Elise Smith (New Market, Md./Oakdale), Lauren Dahn (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBouef), Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton), Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion), Maddy Oehme (Brick, N.J./Donovan Catholic), Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban), Abby Wilde (Parkersburg, Pa./Octorara), Nicole Dimiris (Hockessin, Del./Saint Marks), Megan Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove), Nicole Delli Colli (Rye, N.Y./Rye) join the Golden Rams. Wright and Wilde both join the Purple and Gold as transfer students, Wright as a senior transfer from U Sciences, and Wilde as a grad transfer from Manhattan College.
UP NEXT
West Chester remains home after play concludes on Saturday afternoon to host Holy Family inside Hollinger Field House on Tuesday evening beginning at 7 p.m.
