Roster
Schedule
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- As the first full week of September marches on, head coach
Kassie Bellaver and her Golden Rams are readying for another season of West Chester University women's volleyball as the 2024 campaign gets underway on Friday at 11 a.m. vs Pitt-Johnstown.
West Chester enters the 2024 season with expectations similar to those years prior as the team looks to return to the PSAC Tournament after a one-year hiatus in 2023. In 2023, West Chester came tantalizingly close to securing the fourth playoff spot on the last day of the regular season, finishing the year with a weekend sweep and wins in four of its last five matches. Despite this strong end to the regular season, West Chester narrowly missed out on the fourth and final Tournament spot out of the Eastern Division by virtue of a multi-team sets won tiebreaker.
Check out our conversation with coach Bellaver ahead of the start of the 2024 season
here.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
As the Golden Rams gear up for the 2024 season, the fellow coaches in the PSAC expect a resurgent year out of Bellaver's charges, picking West Chester to finish fourth in the Eastern Division and return to the PSAC Tournament for the third time in four years.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester returns a host of key contributors from a year ago, including
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban), who finished the year second on the team in kills with 165,
Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton), who finished the year second in assists (376), third in aces (29), and fifth in digs (112),
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton), who led in aces (40) and digs (465), and
Nicole Dimiris (Hockessin, Del./Saint Marks), who led the squad in blocks with 96. West Chester also returns a host of other veteran talent in lone true senior
Lexi Niedrowski (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) along with juniors
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion), Lexy Caltabiano (Woolwich Twp, N.J./GCIT), and two-sport standout
Megan Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove), and sophomores
Amanda Redding (San Marino, Ca./San Marino) and
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick).
In addition to this strong returning core, West Chester welcomes a pair of transfers from two-time defending Division III National Champion, Juniata as
Shaena Brooks (Willoughby Hills, OH/Eastlake North) and
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) look to help bring more veteran experience to the 2024 edition of the Golden Rams. West Chester also welcomes a host of newcomers as
Zoe Brown (Merion Station, Pa./Lower Merion), Bria Stepp (Cranberry Twp, Pa./Seneca Valley), Leslie Wandmacher (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore), Macey Baum (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna), Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield), Ashlyn Oswald (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny), and Emily Ezeiruaku (Berlin, N.J./Paul VI) embark on their first seasons of collegiate volleyball as Golden Rams.
OPENING UP
West Chester opens the year on Friday morning vs Pitt-Johnstown at 11 a.m. before squaring off against Charleston (W.V.) in the nightcap at 5 p.m. in Hollinger Field House. West Chester has opened the year with a win every year since 2012, currently riding an impressive 10-year winning streak, including a 3-0 victory over Roberts Wesleyan in the season opener a year ago.
JUST AHEAD
Friday's two matches will be the first of two on a busy opening weekend at home for West Chester as the Golden Rams will face Jefferson on Saturday at 11 a.m. before finishing its weekend with a match against Wilmington at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Golden Rams Saturday evening match vs Wilmington will be their last home action for nearly a month as the team embarks on a nine-match road trip, which includes their PSAC East opener at Millersville on September 25. West Chester will return home on October 2 for a battle with Lincoln at 7 p.m. before returning to the road for two weeks, with its first PSAC East match in Hollinger not coming until Friday, October 18, vs East Stroudsburg. As a programming note, all Friday evening matches against PSAC East competition will now begin at 6 p.m. instead of the traditional 7 p.m. start time from prior years.
