By Will Stadler
The capacity crowd at Hermann Athletic Center released a deafening roar when the 2024 William Peace University volleyball team poured out of the locker room and took the court for the first time this year. The anticipation and excitement were palpable as fans had been waiting since February for Pacer action inside “The Herm.”
The 2024 Pacers have delivered high level action to this point, sporting a 10-5 record at the halfway point of the regular season.
“I definitely would say that this year’s team has really good chemistry,” said junior setter AJ Townsend. “Everybody brings a different aspect to the team and we’ve been playing well.”
WPU’s volleyball team started out 4-4 with some inconsistency in terms of the product on the court. However, there was never any sense of panic for the Pacers.
“Coach Marshall has a very calming presence in the locker room and on the court,” said Townsend. “We always look to her for advice and she always knows what we need.”
Coach Marshall was able to flip a switch, leading her team to six straight wins over the course of nine days in September (13 – 21). Three of those matches were clean sweeps for the Pacers, meaning they didn’t even drop a set to Pfeiffer, Greensboro, and Mary Baldwin.
When asked about what exactly was going well during this period, Townsend pointed to some newcomers that were making an early impact. “I have to shout out our Freshmen, they have been playing so well,” said Townsend. “Sarah, Jordyn, Cat, Katie,
Savannah, Jacqueline, Anna, they’ve brought in confidence and overall great energy.”
This year’s WPU volleyball squad has been able to combine energetic newcomers with experienced veterans that know how good volleyball can be at Peace. The pacers have made deep post-season runs in each of the last two seasons, even making it to the conference championship game in 2022.
Some thought that this year would be more of a rebuilding year after losing eight significant contributors to graduation last year, but this year’s Pacers have made it clear that winning can happen, and will happen, right now.
“We always have talent, and we have great talent again this year,” said Townsend. “I actually think we have better chemistry this year than we’ve had in years past. This team does everything together and that is going to help us during the rest of the season.”
Check out an episode of the Peace Talks, a student led podcast where AJ Townsend talks about her love for the game and her performances this season.
The talent is most certainly there. Junior Georgia Grace Anderson sits at fourth in the conference in hitting percentage, Megan Brylski has the second-most assists in the conference, and Jordan Juanes’ 195.5 points currently has her at fifth in the conference.
However, Coach Marshall and crew aren’t in it for personal accolades, they look to capture the elusive conference championship that has eluded them twice in recent history.
The Pacers are currently in the trenches of conference play, floating around in the upper-third of the conference standings. The 2024 Pacers are sensing another great year and are poised to make a deeper postseason run.
“Our energy is so good,” said Townsend. “It’s not only the people who are out there, it’s the people on the bench too.”
Coach Marshall has the entire squad all pulling in the same direction and it has resulted in a successful first half for the Pacers on the court.
Potential, talent, teamwork, and energy have this year’s Pacers driven to continue their success and not only get back to the conference championship, but finish the job.
Come out to a game and help pack the Herm for the remaining volleyball games this season, you’ll see a team that is fired up.
Photo Courtesy of Isaiah Grady