The Whitworth women’s volleyball team has already set themselves up for a successful 2024-25 season after being ranked No. 1 in the 2024 NWC preseason poll and dominating at the Whitman Invitational on Aug. 30-31st. After placing second in the Northwest Conference (NWC) tournament and having four players named to the 2023 All-NWC volleyball squad last season, the team has set big goals for themselves this year and knows what it will take to reach them.
Katie Boeder, now in her 12th year as a head coach, is putting emphasis on the program’s “One Team” motto and playing selflessly to achieve their goals. Sophomore Lauren Kremer supported this initiative, stating, “We are not all six individuals on the court playing separately, (but instead) we are working together to (reach) a common goal.” This year, the team has set out to host the conference tournament, become conference champions, and see success at nationals.
Whitworth volleyball has played against multiple non-conference teams at travel tournaments over the past weeks to prepare for the season. The team standings are now 8-2. Kremer states, “It was really great to just have our whole team travel there and, like, just get into a good rhythm of our culture and then be able to perform what we’ve been working on in practice.” One of the teams that Whitworth played against during a tournament weekend in Minnesota was the number eight D3-ranked team in the nation. Whitworth lost, but Kremer said, “It was definitely an eye-opening game of like how hard we need to work and where we need to get to, and I think it’s a good starting place for us to keep growing from.”
This year, the team has a roster of 18 players (four incomers and 14 veterans), as well as two new assistant coaches who are setting roots in the program. “They’ve all fit into the team perfectly,” said Kremer, “(they) help build our culture and just challenge us and make us think of things in new ways.” The root of the team’s success and what they’re taking into the season with this year is “building culture and maintaining what we’re doing and just trying to be the best players on and off the court.”
