Standout freshmen, return of setter Vivian Poach have Saint Vincent volleyball among PAC playoff contenders
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As the volleyball regular season winds to a close in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, the standings are bunched as teams jockey for spots in the conference tournament.
The top six teams at the end of the regular season earn spots in the PAC postseason, with the top two receiving a bye to the semifinals. Allegheny, Saint Vincent, defending champion Chatham, Thiel, Westminster and Grove City held the top six spots as of Oct. 31.
Saint Vincent’s spot among the contenders comes as a bit of a surprise, that is if the PAC preseason rankings are to be believed. The Bearcats (11-11, 5-2 PAC) were picked to finish eighth in the conference.
If its PAC foes were skeptical about the Bearcats, it was understandable. Coach Sue Hozak’s team finished 3-7 in the PAC last season and, for 2024, featured a roster heavy on freshmen and sophomores.
But a few of those same freshmen, along with the return of a key senior, are the main reasons the Bearcats are vying for a playoff spot.
“We just figured out a way to come together as a team,” said Hozak, who has served as the team’s coach since its inception in 1985. “And we have the addition of three freshmen who play six rotations. … Adding those three individuals really made a big difference with the upperclassmen we have.”
Meegan Williams, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter, leads the crop of newbies. She has been voted PAC Newcomer of the Week four times, including three in succession for the weeks between Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. Williams averages 2.71 kills and 3.70 digs per set and has served 25 aces.
Maya Martell (6-0 middle, Elizabeth Forward), who stepped in to fill a void created by an injury, averages a kill per set and leads the team with 27 aces.
Dakota Hershberger (5-10 outside hitter) averages 2.17 kills and 2.14 digs per set and has 26 aces. She also has been recognized as PAC Newcomer of the Week.
“She’s one of those kids that, when you need that point at a crucial time, she just figures out a way to do it,” Hozak said. “There are times we just shake our heads and are like, ‘Wow!’ ”
Added senior setter Vivian Poach: “(Hershberger) gets through any block, which is amazing. We trust her more than anyone to put the ball down when we’re struggling.”
Poach’s return to the team also has been a boost. A second-team all-conference selection in 2022 as a sophomore, the Trinity grad sat out last season to focus on her academics.
Poach is a nursing student, and, Hozak said, junior year typically is the most demanding for those pursuing that major. After much deliberation and a chat with Hozak, Poach decided to opt out of the 2023 season.
“I definitely would put that in the five most difficult decisions I’ve had to make for my personal life,” Poach said. “I struggled with that. I knew it was coming since my sophomore year. … I needed to look at my entire future, not just the next few years.”
Poach stayed around the team, helping out at practice and offering support in whatever way possible. But she missed being on the court, and when spring practices rolled around for the 2024 season, she decided she would be able to handle volleyball and academics again.
She has provided a big lift both in leadership and statistically, posting 6.25 assists, 2.86 digs and 1.27 kills per set while serving 26 aces. She also pilots the Bearcats’ 5-1 offense (one setter playing all six rotations), something Hozak said she discovered the team excelled at as the season progressed.
And with so many freshmen involved so heavily, it was incumbent upon the seniors, Hozak said, to ramp up their leadership qualities. Along with Poach, outside hitter Kaelyn Staples-Klasnic and libero/defensive specialist Stacie Ramos have provided that guidance.
“(Hozak) pulled me aside during one of the preseason practices and said she wanted to see me on some of these (PAC awards) lists that come out at the end of the season … and she said I just have to start being more aggressive,” said Ramos, a native of the San Diego area. “When I was a freshman, I was just kind of supporting and not really taking the lead on anything.
“But this season I feel like I really focused on stepping in front of people to get the balls that I knew I could pass and free up our hitters to be able to hit instead of having them pass first.”
Ramos and Staples-Klasnic have delivered in tangible ways, too. Staples-Klasnic leads the team at 3.17 kills per set, and Ramos leads in digs at 5.12 per set.
Additionally, both are among the seven players who have at least 16 aces for the Bearcats. Martell, Hershberger, Poach, Williams and sophomore Maddie Eagler (16) are the others.
With the regular season in the home stretch, the Bearcats are hoping to finish strong and crack the top six. If they do that, the players believe they have as good a shot as anyone to take the PAC title.
“We not only have six great players on the court, we have such a long bench that is perfectly capable of coming in and helping out when needed and doing the job when needed,” Poach said.
Added Ramos: “Before, our goal was making the playoffs. But (at a recent) practice, we reevaluated, and we changed it to being either the one seed or two seed, and I think to get there — and this is also something we spoke about at the beginning of the season — I think all of us just want to have a season we’re proud of.
“We’re giving 100% every game so we don’t regret anything.”