Matalus had 369 kills this season, which not only led the team but also was the most of any middle hitter in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
“We all worked really hard every week and to be recognized by the ODAC as an individual was a really cool accomplishment. Especially because it was the last week of the season, it gave me a confidence boost at the end of the season, ” Matalus said.
This is Hoover-Erbig’s second time receiving the honor of Coach of the Year. This is her fourteenth season as head coach for the Marlins and in 2019 she led the team to the most wins in program history with a final record of 28-8.
“Our coaching staff stresses serve, serve receive and defense as the most important parts of the game. We worked on these aspects of the game as well as preparing for each of our opponents,” Hoover-Erbig said.
Matalus was one of five players to earn All-ODAC recognition. Along with her was junior Greta Coss on the Second Team, who had 275 kills on the year. Rounding out the third team for the team was seniors Lauren Topper and Alyssa Taylor and freshman Haley Sutton. Sutton led the team in assists with 675.
Taylor was the team’s primary libero this season and notched 532 kills on the year. In her Marlin career, she earned 1272 digs and 181 assists.
Overall, the Virginia Wesleyans women’s volleyball had their best season to date. “As a team we really struggled in the beginning of the season to be emotionally consistent but the awesome thing about that is that we fixed it. We worked really hard to find what was doable for us and how we could put our best foot forward. It worked really heavily in our favor at the end of the season because we got better at responding to error and remaining consistent,” Matalus said.
The volleyball team graduates a loaded senior class in Matalus, Topper, Taylor, Elizabeth Britton, Meghan Wood, and Sarah Brush. However, they do retain key players such as Coss, Sutton, sophomore Sydney Collins and Kathryn Yeager.
Megan Sherman
mrsherman@vwu.edu
Makiah Ellis
mellis@vwu.edu