Schedule
Roster
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University volleyball team is finishing its preparations for the start of a new season in Hollinger Field House on Friday afternoon when the Golden Rams host Georgian Court at 4 p.m. in their first match of the 2025 season.
"We had a fantastic preseason," opened head coach
Kassie Bellaver. "We only had a week until classes started, so it was a little bit of trying to cram as much as we could into those early days, but I was really impressed with how the team came back. I thought the girls came back with a good level of excitement and a desire to accomplish so much more than we did last year. We had a really good spring season as well, and I think the returners have done a good job building off that," said Bellaver.
After back-to-back PSAC Quarterfinal appearances and a near NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021 and 2022, West Chester has found itself on the wrong side of the PSAC Tournament bubble each of the last two seasons, narrowly missing out on a spot in the field on the final weekend of the regular season in both 2023 and 2024. This trend is something that head coach
Kassie Bellaver and the Golden Rams would love nothing more than to reverse in 2025, as the team is led by an experienced group, including six seniors.
"Goals like winning 20 matches and getting back to the postseason are absolutely things that we talk about," said Bellaver. "We know we have the talent to do those things and more this year, but we also know that we have younger players on our team who have experienced those great seasons that we want to get back to, so it makes it even more important for us to talk about it as a group."
Last season, West Chester concluded its campaign with a 13-15 overall record and a 5-9 mark in league play, finishing 3-3 in the final month of the season, including wins over Lock Haven, Bloomsburg, and Kutztown, which helped keep the team in the discussion for the PSAC Tournament.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) is one of the aforementioned six seniors, serves as a captain, and was a PSAC East Second Team All-League honoree last season after leading the team in kills with 280 and ranking second in blocks with 55.
"Zoe is coming off a great 2024 season, and I'm excited to see what she can bring in 2025," said Bellaver. "She is someone who developed exactly how you want them to, going from getting playing time and learning in year one to becoming a go-to player for us."
Preseason Prognostication
West Chester was ranked sixth in the PSAC East preseason coaches' poll, released earlier this month, trailing Shepherd, East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg, Bloomsburg, and Millersville. Lock Haven and Kutztown rounded out the poll.
Gannon is the preseason favorite in the PSAC West once again, with four first-place votes, followed by Indiana (Pa.) in second with three first-place votes of its own.
Flock Talk
In 2024, West Chester was a relatively young group, graduating only two players and boasting six juniors along with an array of talented freshmen and sophomores, who played in some big moments for the Golden Rams. The hope for head coach
Kassie Bellaver and her Golden Rams is that these young players who saw valuable time a year ago are ready to take the next step in their development in 2025.
"I'm excited to see our younger players take the next step for us this season. Players like
Anna Richardson and
Julia Kwitchoff had strong rookie seasons and good springs to follow it up, so I'm excited to see their growth continue. Julia was another player who had a great season for us last year, doing a really nice job of balancing the offensive and defensive jobs of a middle blocker. She was able to produce strong numbers on both ends, and we are excited to see her continued development this fall. We were impressed by Anna last season and expect more from her this year. She was a player who had played at a high level in high school and club, so it wasn't hard for her to adapt to the speed of the college game. She also has the right mindset to be a great outside hitter in that she can handle a mistake; she just wants the next ball."
The team returns each of four leaders in kills in Haines (280),
Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) (267),
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) (163), and
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) (151), while Kwitchoff and Haines also led the team in blocks last year with 69 and 55, respectively.
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion), Shaena Brooks (Willoughby Hills, Oh./Eastlake North), Lexy Caltabiano (Woolwich Twp, N.J./GCIT), Leslie Wandmacher (Bayshore, N.Y./Bayshore), Ashlyn Oswald (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny), Amanda Redding (San Marino, Cal./San Marino), and Meg Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) will also look to help contribute to the Golden Ram offense as they return to the squad in 2025.
Asked about her remaining three seniors, which include Lane, Caltabiano, and Wolfe, Bellaver said, "They are three great athletes, who I'm excited to see compete this year. Abiah has seen significant playing time throughout her career, and it looks like she has really elevated her play this year. She is also a player with great volleyball IQ, so we will be excited to maximize that this season. Meg (Wolfe and Lexy (Caltabiano) are such amazing athletes that we feel as if we can plug them in and use them almost anywhere. They are athletic enough to go from being an outside hitter to a DS and back again, and that is something we have had to do and may very well do at times this season."
Setter
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) led the team in assists and aces last year with 797 and 35, while also ranking second in digs with 238, an effort she will look to build on in her second and final season with the Golden Rams after joining the team as a transfer from Division III power Juniata. Fellow setter
Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton) also had another strong season in 2024, finishing the year with 109 assists and 25 aces, both of which were second best on the team.
When asked about her two veteran setters, Bellaver said, "Meg and Lacie are both great setters and great leaders for us. St. Jean is a really versatile player for us and someone who occasionally wore the second libero shirt last year to help us with serving. She is also a true student-athlete through and through, as evidenced by her learning of her acceptance into med school, while we were in preseason in August. Lacie brings such a great personality to the court that it's really easy for everyone on the court to follow her energy and leadership."
Bria Stepp (Cranberry Twp, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Oswald are both also returning setters, who could help keep the Golden Ram offense moving throughout the season.
In their rookie seasons,
Macey Baum (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) was third on the squad in aces with 21, followed by Kwitchoff with 19 of her own, while also ranking fourth in digs with 125, trailing Richardson, who recorded 166 digs last Fall.
The biggest question that remains for the Golden Rams is replacing the departure of
Sydney Heffner, who was a constant as the Golden Rams libero over the course of the last four seasons.
When asked about the task of replacing a four-year starter in Heffner, Bellaver said, "It's never easy to replace a player like that, but I think we have a lot of talent that can help fill that spot. Between returners like
Macey Baum, Meg Wolfe, and
Lexy Caltabiano and our freshman in
Elianna Freeman, I think we have a lot of talent in this group."
Elianna Freeman (Jersey Village, TX/Jersey Village) is a prime candidate to fill this role in her rookie season for the Golden Rams; however, the team may look to the likes of St. Jean, Baum, Wolfe, and Caltabiano to fill this void.
In addition to a strong returning core highlighted by the six seniors (Lane, Caltabiano, St. Jean, Haines, Wolfe, and Brown), West Chester also welcomed a number of talented newcomers, including
Julianna Carlson (Orwigsburg, Pa./Nativity BVM), Maeve Gallagher (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II), Brooke Forester (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan), Addison Hertzog (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley), and Freeman.
"Our new players are really first-year players in class year only," explained Bellaver. "I think they've meshed with the team really well, and this is a testament to the attitude and culture of our returning players, who did a great job of making them feel welcomed and getting them integrated quickly."
Keeping With Tradition
West Chester will begin its season with a weekend Invitational in Hollinger once again in 2025, as the Tournament formerly known as RAMFEST has morphed into the PSAC East Kickoff Tournament and will feature matches against Georgian Court (9/5-4 p.m.), Dominican (9/6-11 a.m.), and Charleston (9/6-1 p.m.).
The Slate
Following the PSAC Kickoff Tournament in Hollinger this weekend, West Chester will host Chestnut Hill at home on September 10th, starting at 6 p.m. The team will then be on the road for a week, featuring visits to Molloy, Goldey-Beacom, and Bowie State. The Golden Rams return home on September 19
th to take on Caldwell before hosting Millersville on Wednesday, the 24th, in their PSAC East opener.
