Coach Swetz looks to young talent in a big way

While that team will always be immortalized in Penn State Fayette sports lore, the 2020 team would have had a legitimate shot at repeating as national champions.

Then COVID-19 arrived and wiped out the entire 2020 campaign for head coach Sam Swetz, assistant coach Janelle Cooper and everyone who was, and still is associated with the program.

How different does the team look?

"We look extremely different, but in the best way," said Swetz with a smile. "The team for this year is the start of a new beginning for Fayette Volleyball.  Of our 16 players, only seven were a part of the USCAA national championship team, which is significant in the sense that we had 20 on our roster when we won.  Our team is young this year, but this is the most well-rounded team we have ever had in my time here.  This team has a very strong offense that will be harder to read on who is going to be the 'hot hitter' each game."

Swetz went into more detail on how different this year's team will be.

"We went from having a decently mature team, with occasionally having one freshman on the floor at a time, to now being more in the opposite direction.  Our team is young and hungry with some fantastic veteran leadership sprinkled in between."

Anyone who knows Swetz knows how competitive she is, so don't confuse having a young team with any different expectations.

"We want to win another USCAA national championship, of course," Swetz said with a smile. "In my opinion, that should always be the answer as long as I am here.  Once you reach that expectation, reach the pinnacle, once, you always want to reach it again every season.  We want to hit the ground running (despite) having a lot of new players on the team.  However, this doesn't change our style.  We are still Fayette Volleyball and the goal is to teach our new players the culture."

When asked about returning leaders, Swetz pondered for a moment and then answered.

"This is an interesting question as we have two returning leaders that the team would look to for support and who will do their part," Swetz said of Jadyn Barnish (Carmichaels, PA/Carmichaels HS) and Angel Buwawa (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands HS) before mentioning newcomer Kristina Aeschbacher (Carmichaels, PA/Carmichaels HS).  "However, we have a new leader that has made her presence known in such a positive way in Kristina who transferred in from West Virginia Wesleyan.  She will be a senior for us, has been great at group messaging the team and is really putting in the effort."

Swetz shared that she never looks at returning starters as having positions locked up.

"I feel everyone starts with a clean slate each year," she said. "I never like to base the previous year, national championships or not, off of what I plan to do moving forward.  It is also hard to question because of how often our lineup would change during the season to truly know who a starter is or not.  However, Angel and Jadyn are familiar faces that are returning as part of the team that had great success."

When asked about what will define a successful season, Swetz was quick to respond.

"We will have a successful season if we can hit the ground running," she said. "Meaning, if our new generation of players can jump right in without hesitation, we are going to have an amazing season."

Fayette opens in the USCAA Tipoff Tournament on September 3.  The tournament takes place at Penn State Beaver.

Before concluding, Swetz shared her excitement for those who support the program.

"To our local community, we are so excited to be back, and having a season again after two years, we really hope to see you there supporting your local college volleyball team," she said with a gleam in her eyes. "We are so grateful to have experienced such a strong community atmosphere (during the national championship run) and hoe that it continues into this season as well.  This area owns my heart and I really hope you all come out to cheer us on!"

For more information on the volleyball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/wvball/index.

Written by Bill Hughes