Standout players Julie Keener, Caitlyn Lorenz, Alaina Bohrer, and Michaela Bach will lead the Wash. U. women’s volleyball team into action this season, beginning with Wednesday’s season opener against Fontbonne. (Photo courtesy: WashU Athletics)

by DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer

The Washington University women’s volleyball team will open its 2021 season with a home match, Wednesday, September 1, against Fontbonne University at the Wash. U. Field House.

Like many teams around the country, the Bears are coming off a year without any competition, having last played a match on Nov. 15, 2019. That season, Wash. U. finished 24-9 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

This season, the Bears who received 205 total points and landed just outside of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s preseason Top 25 poll, will play a tough schedule, which features matches against six teams that did crack the Top 25 and another six who received votes.

“We try to keep things as competitive as possible because it’s so hard to win the conference. We try to load up our strength of schedule so it’s easy for us to get the at-large bid if we’re successful in it,” Wash. U. head coach Vanessa Walby said. “We’re lucky where we’re located that we’re able to see a lot of teams ranked in the Top-25 within a five-hour drive of us.”

The Bears will be led by team captains, Caitlin Lorenz, Michaela Bach, Julie Keener, and Alaina Bohrer. Lorenz and Bach are seniors who earned All-University Athletic Association honors, while Keener and Bohrer are juniors, who played well and stood out during their freshman seasons in 2019.

“I think all of our captains show really good leadership and will be really good returners for us,” Walby said.

Also returning to the Bears’ starting lineup this season will be seniors Samantha Kaiser and Abby Li, and juniors Amanda Gild and Taryn Gurbach.

Opening week will be a busy one for Wash. U., which will play five matches in a span of four days. Following the season-opener against Fontbonne, the Bears will host the Bear Invite on September 3 and 4, with matches against Carroll, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Lewis & Clark College, and Texas-Dallas. Local rival Webster University will also play in the Bear Invite this weekend.

“I know our match on Wednesday (against Fontbonne) is going to be tough but hopefully that takes some of the nerves away and gets us back into a competitive game rhythm,” Walby said. “A lot of it is trying to catch our rhythm and use our experience to the best of our ability, having a short memory as much as we can and keep moving forward.”

First serve for Wednesday’s match against Fontbonne is scheduled for 7 p.m.