BEREA, Ohio -- In 2014, the Baldwin Wallace University volleyball team hopes once again to hold the Ohio Athletic Conference championship trophy over its head when the OAC Tournament draws to a close. But even though the Yellow Jackets have lost a collection of talent to graduation, veteran Head Coach Vicki Brault is confident that her team will return to the top of one of Division III's toughest conferences.
"I expect our girls to compete at a high level, work hard and develop great team chemistry," said Brault, who enters her 20th season in Berea with 350 wins at BW and 420 overall in her 24-year coaching career. "Our upperclassmen need to set these high standards for themselves, and serve as an example for our incoming freshman to follow.
"We know that we will be very young, but we also know we have the potential and work-ethic that are going to help us build towards our future goal of returning to the top of the conference," continued Brault. "We are really looking forward to preseason camp and feel it will be a very, very competitive atmosphere."
Five student-athletes return to the rotation this season. They are 5'11" senior Academic All-OAC right side player Alayna Chlad (Kent/Roosevelt), 6'1" senior right side player Markema Winters (Akron/Firestone), 5'10" junior middle hitter Kaitlin Burgess (Danville, Calif./Silver Lake Regional (Mass.), 5'9" junior outside hitter Anna Miley (West Salem/ Northwestern) and 5'5" sophomore libero Arlayna Newcomer (Norwalk/St. Paul). Add 5'5" senior setter Katie Primeau (Pemberville/ Eastwood) and 5'7" senior defensive specialist Paige Pileski (Elyria) to that group and Brault has some depth. The seven will be looked upon for both veteran production and leadership. Overall, Brault returns 10 letter winners from a year ago.
Chlad hit .145 last season and had 142 kills and 45 total blocks. Brault is hoping she continues to grow from last season where she had career-bests in kills, digs, and blocks. She enters this season with 154 career kills, a .128 hitting percentage and 47 blocks.
Winters was one of Brault's surprise players after sitting out the 2012 season. Last fall, she was tied for second on the team in kills (203), had .191 hitting percentage and had 82 total blocks. She also added 26 digs and eight set assists. She enters this fall with 205 career kills, 83 blocks and 26 digs.
Burgess, who tranferred to BW as a sophomore last year, will now try to take on a larger role as she takes over the starting middle hitter position. Burgess enters her second season in the Brown & Gold after recording 43 kills, 23 digs and 15 total blocks a year ago.
Look for Miley to contribute after having an injury plagued season in 2013 where she missed a total of 12 games. Even with the injury, Miley was still able to hit .149 and recorded 82 kills, 49 digs and 15 total blocks. Brault expects Miley to have an even better year now that she has fully recovered from the injury that sidelined her for a good part of last season.
Newcomer is expected to battle for the libero role this season after she won it half way through the season last year. She had a strong freshman campaign and was third on the team with 288 digs and had 11 set assists to go along with her 25 service aces. Brault is hoping she continues to build off her tremendous freshman season and becomes a leader on this Yelllow Jacket squad.
Primeau, who had 286 set assists and 131 digs last season, will look to take on the starting setter role. In her career, Primeau has totaled 466 set assists and 171 digs. Pileski will be looked upon for veteran leadership as she takes on the role of defensive specialist. Last season, she recorded 180 digs, 17 service aces and eight set assists.
BW opens its season at the Capital/ Otterbein Classic at Capital University when it faces Maryville (Tenn.) College on Friday, August 29 at 5:00 and then plays Kenyon College at 7:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets open OAC play on Friday, October 3 when they travel to Muskingum University at 7:00 p.m. BW also will host the Annual Marcia French Memorial Tournament on September 5-6.
