WSU volleyball begins its season in two weeks. On Friday, August 9, they finally had their full team to begin to prepare for the upcoming season.
Just about everything is different compared to this time last year. Instead of being led by coach Jen Greeny, who had the Cougs on a near decade-long streak of making the NCAA Tournament, the Cougs have first-time head coach Korey Schroeder.
Rather than playing in the Pac-12, the Cougs face WCC competition for Conference play. Finally, rather than being led by seniors ready to take on professional play such as Magda Jehlárová and Pia Timmer, WSU has nine newcomers with a lot to prove.
Schroeder said his focus remains on building the atmosphere and culture around the team. Only being in Pullman for one season, he has not gotten to know the returners that well and the month leading into the season has allowed him to not only get to know the newcomers, but also build deeper connections with the players who chose to come back.
One way the team is building those connections is by spending a lot of time together. Schroeder said that after doing a media photoshoot Monday, the team left Pullman to spend time together as a team.
“The focus for me is always going to be culture and our connections with each other,” he said. “When building a staff and recruiting, we intentionally brought in people who we felt were going to also have that focus and wanted to make connections with each other.”
While all the returners made a vital contribution to maintaining part of the winning culture previously seen with WSU, one player stands out: Katy Ryan.
Ryan is a two-time All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention from Rathdrum, Idaho. She has tallied 259 career blocks and 824 career kills over three seasons with the Cougs, boasting the most prominent skills on the team heading into the season.
“I’m very grateful for Katy to come back and show that belief in our staff, and really for all five returners to make that decision to come back,” Schroeder said.
Beyond the prowess they bring on the court, Schroeder said it has been super beneficial to have a group of players that know the city. Players who can take charge to take the new players around town and show them the best places that the Palouse has to offer.
Over her career, Ryan has also achieved status as a two-time member of the CSC Academic All-District team, another pillar of the culture Schroeder said he’s building.
A focus on academic excellence is what he said he strives for. AVCA Team Academic winners for the first time in program history, the volleyball student-athletes achieved a combined 3.7 GPA in the Spring 2024 semester, something Schroeder said will remain a priority for the upcoming semester.
Joining Ryan in being a retuner is Logann Golden, Emma Barbero, Weronika Wojdyla and Lucie Blažková. While there is still a majority of the production missing from the team ranked as highly as No. 4 nationally, there is a lot to be grateful about with the returners.
Schroeder said this time last year, he had no intention of being a head coach. But, as the season went on and the opportunity presented itself, it felt like the right path.
In becoming the head coach, he said the most interesting thing has been being the one to make the final decision. Rather than being an assistant who gets to present ideas, sometimes ideas that can be long shots, he now has to take into consideration multiple perspectives before being the person the staff looks toward to make the final choice.
Despite the new responsibilities of being the head coach, he has put together a staff that he has a lot of respect for, both in their recommendations and previous experience.
“It’s been a collaborative effort from the start. I recognize that with me being a first time head coach, I don’t know everything. I need as much feedback from the rest of the staff as possible, which is something that has happened so far,” he said.
For now, WSU volleyball will continue to work toward preparing for the season that will start Aug. 30 against Wyoming on the road.
