By Kellie Lagoy
The menu at the cafeteria. The best party happening this weekend. Which NFL player is going to jail next.
What do they all have in common?
Students at Virginia Wesleyan all seem more concerned with them than with the women’s volleyball team.
Women’s volleyball should be a big part of any student’s conversation at VWC. The Marlins have put up an impressive 13-4 record, and these women are so far undefeated in the ODAC. This team is resilient, hard-working, and the most positive group of athletes at Virginia Wesleyan.
This team has been making a big name for itself since the beginning of the season. It participated in two tournaments in the beginning, the Captains Classic and the Sea Gull Classic, and had players named to the all-tournament teams in both. Junior Marin Crowder, libero, was named to the all-tournament team at the Captains Classic. Senior Alex Lambert, middle hitter, was named to both all-tournament teams. These accolades all happened within the first two weekends that school was back in session.
The Marlins recently participated in a third tournament, the York College Spartan Invitational in York, Penn. They swept the competition and came home undefeated 4-0. They took down Fairleigh Dickinson University, York College, Farmingdale State University, and Albright College. The entire weekend, they only dropped one set to York College.
The team is stacked with talent all across the board. Virginia Wesleyan is currently ranked number one in the conference for kills, and Lambert is second in the conference for kills. Other Virginia Wesleyan players place on the leaderboards as well. Sophomore Tiffany Barrett is just two spots below Lambert for kills, and Kirsten Sessoms is ranked fourth for assists. Sophomore Madelyn McMurry and senior Michaela Holbrooks both are ranked in the top ten for blocks. Marin Crowder is ranked fourth for digs.
The players have proved just how good they are. In every single match they’ve won, they have never dropped more than one set against their opponent. They seem to only be getting better under the regime of head coach Andrea Hoover. This is Hoover’s ninth season as head coach, and her teams only seem to get better as every year passes. In her time at Virginia Wesleyan, her team has been to the conference semifinals four times, and she has had only one losing season. With Hoover’s experience and her team’s skill, they seem to be headed toward bigger and better things this season.
These Marlins are a force to be reckoned with, and with their season only going up their opponents should be scared. Especially conference opponents. Virginia Wesleyan is one of only three teams to remain undefeated in the conference, and it has only seven conference games left. This team has a good chance at remaining undefeated in the conference. They still have to play Shenandoah University and Washington and Lee University, the other two undefeated teams in the ODAC, and with the way the season is going, there’s a good chance they will break the undefeated streaks of those two teams.
This team is impressive, not only in their record but in their level of play. The Marlins’ positivity shines bright on the court and on the sidelines with the coaching staff. This is a team worth watching, and they are definitely a team worth talking about. If the Marlins volleyball team isn’t on your mind, then they should be now.
