Women’s volleyball is off to a great start this 2019 conference season. The team began with a win over Immaculata 3-0 on October 9 in Atlantic East Conference play.
According to the coach, the scheduling of the games helps the players prepare for the late-season push.
“We stack our schedule with incredibly tough teams at the beginning and because of that our record [is not as good as it could be]. But we did it so that we are prepared to get to the conference finals at the end of the season,” Eric Schaefer, head coach of women’s volleyball, said.
The Cavaliers lead the conference with the second-highest hitting percentage and the most blocks out of all the teams so far this season.
According to the players, being a young team means the success of their play is contingent on the chemistry they build during practices.
“We are a very young team. I think it makes it easier because we are all really close coming in together. Being able to mesh well together during practice is helpful,” Hannah Dalton, sophomore criminology and political science major and middle hitter, said.
Dalton leads with the most blocks out of any player overall this season.
For the many freshman players that have joined the team, coming from high school and starting on a new team can be overwhelming. Student-athletes on the team strive to build confidence with other members and become closer.
“I think my biggest challenge is trying to gain my confidence with the girls and trying to realize I am accepted here,” Valerie Wisner, freshman biology and pre-med major and defensive specialist, said.
She also said that the team has become a family to her.
“The girls, we’re a family, sometimes we may not always seem like it,” Wisner said. “We get frustrated with each other, but that’s a bump in life. At the end of the day, we are always going to be there for each other and we are always going to have each other’s backs. We are much more than just a volleyball team at Cabrini University… It doesn’t matter if we lose or we win.”
The team does a lot to build relationships off the court. Many of the players live together and have meals together. Later in the season, they are trying to set up a rock and ropes course.
Steph Judkins, junior exercise science and health promotion major and outside hitter, is second in the conference in kills, or unreturnable attacks, and kills per set this season. She emphasized that the team is very family-oriented.
“Every year we always make it a family aspect. We are all very close. It’s just something we want to happen because it makes us stronger on the court, just as much as off the court,” Judkins said.
The Cavaliers beat Gwynedd Mercy 3-0 in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania on October 16, improving to 11-10 overall and 2-0 in AEC play. But, the athletes agree that they are looking forward to Marymount the most, after last season’s two point loss in the conference championship game.
“I want some redemption,” Dalton said.
