WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team looks to improve on their previous season when they play in the Marts Center this year. They finished the 2021 season with an 11-19 record overall, 2-6 in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom. Joseph Czopek enters his 11th season as the head coach for the Colonels.
 
"The ladies have been working extremely hard and have been continuing to work hard during this preseason," Czopek said. "One of the biggest things that have been fueling us the past few days is the preseason all-conference rankings, putting us tied for seventh. We just feel we bring back much more experience than that."
 
Learning from past games and garnering more experience, the Colonels have expectations for their team as they return 13 players from last season to keep building success within their program. The charge for this team is led by senior Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe), who will be returning to the opposite position that earned her All-Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) honors last season. Carroll was the leader on the team in hitting percentage with a .180, while being second in points (252.0), kills (213), and blocks (33.0). She also finished fifth on the team in digs and serving aces with 185 and 21 respectively. Carroll will look to continue to have team improvement with her fellow seniors Olivia Marsh (East Hampton, CT/East Hampton), Emily Lass (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East), Jessica Salus (Shavertown, PA/Lake Lehman), and Allison Murie (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest).
 
Looking to keep the momentum of last season going, juniors Ali Yordy (Fairfield, PA/Fairfield Area), Nicole Fitzpatrick (New Hampton, NY/Minisink Valley), Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson), and Emily Gentzel (Yaphank, NY/Bellport) hope to make improvements within their game and show it on the court. Yordy, the libero, led the team with 342 digs while being fourth with 33 serving aces. Fitzpatrick, a middle hitter, enters this season leading the team with 77 blocks, while being third in points (203.0) and fourth in kills (125). Ousey, finished fourth in kills and blocks for the Colonels last year with 125 and 29 respectively in the opposite position. Gentzel enters as a defensive specialist, appearing in 16 matches last season, adding 43 digs in those sets.
 
Sophomores Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area), Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer), and Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) hope to build off their first year momentum heading into their second season. Reedy returns to the outside hitter position leading the team in points (256.5) and kills (224), while finishing third in digs with 246, and fifth in blocks with 27. Hines, a middle hitter, finished third in blocks for the team with 32, while also adding 50 kills to her resume. Cassel comes back in her setter position, leading the team with 496 assists, also finishing second in digs with 260. She also recorded 26 blocks as well. Jenna Baron (Nanticoke, PA/Greater Nanticoke Area) rounds up the sophomore class that returns this season.
 
Two first years are added to this young group, as Casey McNally (Hegins, PA/Tri-Valley) and Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover) look to bring a rejuvenated energy to the team this season. Being added to this group are juniors Lylah Oswald (Wyalusing, PA/Wyalusing), a transfer from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, and Dreena Alvarez (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne), who are looking to make an immediate impact to the team.
 
"Oswald brings a lot of attributes from Kutztown. She was a track star there. We know her background and we're really excited," Czopek said. "She adds to that depth chart on the outside, as well as Sheridan. She played for a local club, Ally is someone who has a strong arm, hits a heavy ball for us. McNally is the only defensive player we brought aboard."
 
The Colonels begin their season on the road at Keystone College on Thursday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m. before playing Hunter College in Kingston, Pa. at the JCC the next day at 5:00 p.m. They begin their MAC Freedom play at Stevens Institute of Technology on September 7th. Wilkes will have their first home MAC Freedom contest on Tuesday, September 13, hosting FDU-Florham at 7:00 p.m.
 
"As always, the MAC Freedom is very hard, strong conference. We battle teams like Stevens, an annual perennial team that competed in the Sweet 16, DeSales in there, and Misericordia got a good ranking this year. So we are expecting some big heavy hitters in our conference," Czopek added.
 
To balance this, Czopek made sure the non-conference games were strong enough to get Wilkes set up for later down the line. The non-conference games include September 10th matchups between Montclair State and Baruch College, hosting New Jersey City University and Neumann University on October 1st, and on the road to face Ramapo College and Saint Joseph's College Long Island on October 22nd.
 
"All this strength of schedule, we're counting on it to lead us to our last playoff in the MAC conference," Czopek remarked. "We want to make playoffs, we want to go as far as we can, and look forward to joining the Landmark Conference."