RICHMOND – The Earlham College volleyball team is gearing up to defend its 2021 regular season HCAC Championship win.
THE SCHEDULE
The season begins at the Mount St. Joseph Tournament over Labor Day weekend. The Quakers will kick off the weekend with the Quaker Bowl against Wilmington College before taking on Ohio Wesleyan and Illinois Wesleyan in Cincinnati.
Wittenberg travels to Druley Performance Gym for the home opener on September 6. The Quakers will then travel to the Pam Briggs Classic hosted by Otterbein University September 9-10 for a four-match slate.
September 16-17 sends EC to the ONU Invitational to compete with Ohio Athletic Conference opponents Ohio Northern, Muskingum, and Heidelberg. Earlham then hosts three home games the following week to gear up for conference play.
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule begins on October 1 at MSJ at 1:00 pm. The Quakers host Hanover College the following Wednesday in Druley Performance Gym with a special broadcast from Indiana SRN.
Earlham will battle Anderson University at 7:00 pm on October 15 to close out homecoming festivities in Druley Performance Gym. The event will also be used to honor seniors on the volleyball squad. The Quakers will continue their season with two home conference games the following week.
In the final mid-season tournament of 2022, the Quakers travel to Washington University St. Louis for the Red and Green Invitational. The three-game slate features the hosts, as well as Grinnell College and University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
The regular season concludes with a pair of road games at Rose-Hulman and Bluffton on October 26 and 29 respectively.
THE PLAYERS
Maria Young returns to the court for her junior season after earning third team All-American honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 2021. The hitter led the Quaker offense last season with 38 kills and a .275 hitting percentage. Defensively, she contributed 155 digs and 44 blocks en route to her HCAC MVP season.
Erin Wagner will lead the setters this season after breaking records last time out. She broke the single-game record for assists with 71 in a five-set battle with MSJ, and finished the season with 1048 in total. Wagner also led the squad in serving aces with 36.
Libero
Jen Shamel led the squad in digs last season with 422. She posted a .946 reception percentage on 369 targets as a stalwart in the Quaker back line. She currently sits at 840 digs and could surpass the 1,000 dig milestone this season.
PRESEASON POLL
The Quakers were selected to finish third in the preseason poll after earning 66 votes. Transylvania was picked to win the conference with 77 votes and five first place selections, with Mount St. Joseph coming in second with 75 votes, five for first place.
THE COACHES
Lauren Horton returns to the sideline after she was named Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year last season. Horton is once again joined by
Annemarie Chin and
Cal Pringle for the 2022 season.
HOW TO FOLLOW
goearlham.com will have up-to-the minute information on schedule cancellations and alterations all season long. Additionally, links for live video and live stats will be published as they become available.
