WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team is ready for their second season of competition in the Landmark Conference, hosting matches in the Marts Center.

Joseph Czopek begins his 13th season as the head coach of the Colonels women's volleyball program in 2024, and will also be in his ninth year coaching the men's team at Wilkes in 2025 after opening the program's inaugural season in 2017.

The Colonels finished their first season of Landmark Conference play with a 10-20 overall record in 2023, ending the season with one victory in the conference – a straight sets win against Goucher College.

On the eve of a fresh season, Coach Czopek highlighted the energy around the team.

"The ladies are anticipating a great season this year and the level of energy has been phenomenal all through preseason practices. They're working hard… on the little things that make themselves a better team and this year's team is very close."

Czopek said the leaders on the team are the experienced seniors who will have more responsibilities than last year.

"We'll be looking heavily to a couple of our seniors coming back. First, we have Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) who has led our team as a center for offense for the last couple seasons. This year she's going to take on an additional role as an attacker for us. Next, we have Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area), another senior for us. Alexis led the team in both kills and points last year… Lastly, Sierra [Hines] has been with our program for all four seasons and she's led the team in blocks."

Cassel and Hines were selected as Academic All-District® in 2022 and 2023 and will look to make it a three-peat in 2024.

Another key returner is senior Jenna Baron (Nanticoke, PA/Greater Nanticoke Area), who played twenty-five matches last year, starting nine. She was fifth on the team in kills (65) and third in blocks (39). Sophomore setter Rachael Anderson (Canmore, AB/West Island College) will likely continue her role off the bench, where she was productive, gathering the second most assists (62) on the 2023 squad. Lastly, depth will be provided by junior Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover Area) and sophomore Ava Wahlers (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport), who played a combined twenty matches last year.

Wilkes' women's volleyball team averaged the second most service aces per set (2.54) in the Landmark a season ago, and their top three leaders in that category – Cassel, Reedy, and Hines – return for their senior year. Overall, the team returns eight players, adding three first year players and one transfer to the roster.

"Kendra Kalp (Somerset, PA/Rockwood)… [is] just a solid player all around. We're going to look for her to be a utility player who can fill many roles off the team. And secondly, we have Mikayla Hughes coming to us. She's going to add depth to our outside hitting roles and we can just see her growing every day in practice," Czopek said.

Ali Yordy (Fairfield, PA/Fairfield Area) will transition from her role as libero to Assistant Coach this year, with sophomore Emma Sanford (Las Vegas, NV/Arbor View) stepping into the libero position. Sanford was named to the 2023 Fall All-Sportsmanship Team, selected by her team and coaching staff. She averaged 1.98 digs per set, second on the team last season. New to the team are first year defensive specialists Lauren Lokuta (Mountain Top, PA/Holy Redeemer) and Annalyse Santowasso (Middlesex, NJ/Rutgers Prep), who could see some time as the season progresses and they gain experience.

The Colonels begin the 2024 season on Friday, August 30th at 7:00 p.m., going on the road to face Keystone College, who they have an 11-4 record against, winning their last five matches against the Giants. Their first home match will be on Tuesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. against Misericordia. The conference schedule starts on October 4th with a match at Susquehanna University. 

Coach Czopek said, "the Landmark Women's Volleyball Conference is strong and competitive… The women now understand the level of play that we have to be at to be competitive in it. So, they are working to make sure that we earn a playoff berth this year."