By Liam Reilly
@lpreilly852
This season, the Springfield College women’s volleyball team has been a force to be reckoned with. The team is 23-3 – its best start since 2011 – and has a conference record of 10-0. The Pride’s success can be attributed to a plethora of underclassmen stepping up. One of those players is Maeve Voltz, a sophomore from Bay Shore, N.Y.
Voltz has been a key piece of the Pride’s success, posting 177 kills, a .332 hitting percentage and 100 blocks. Her .332 hitting percentage ranks sixth in the NEWMAC, while her 100 blocks rank first – and the second-place player trails her by 43 blocks. Voltz’s blocking is also amongst the best in all of Division III, being 14th in total blocks and seventh in blocks per set.
Springfield head coach Moira Long has been impressed with Voltz’s performance.
“She’s been outstanding for us,” Long said. “It’s great to have a middle who’s as dominant as she is on both sides of the ball.”
Voltz first stepped onto the court when she was in middle school. After moving from Manhattan to Long Island, N.Y., she joined her local YMCA club team. Voltz continued to play volleyball through her sophomore year at Bay Shore Senior High School, where she determined that she wanted to play college ball.
“I really realized that I wanted to play at a collegiate level after we beat our rivals Connetquot,” Voltz said. “It was a big win for us and I discovered how much I liked competing, so I wanted to do it in college.”
When it came time to search for a school, Voltz wanted to go somewhere that she could fit in, pursue a degree in Communications and Sports Journalism, was located in Massachusetts and had a prominent volleyball program.
Enter Springfield College.
Voltz first heard of the school through two of her friends from her hometown, Jarett Nagengast, who plays on the men’s lacrosse team and Chris Rouleau, a junior for the men’s volleyball team. Voltz was sold on Springfield after meeting Long and the team on her official visit.
“When I first met coach, she was super nice, friendly and gave off a trustworthy vibe,” Voltz said. “The girls on the team said that she was a second mom to [them], and I felt that when I met her. She’s very welcoming and makes you feel like you belong.”
Voltz’s first year was a lot to process for her at first. She was three hours away from home, was a stranger to many and had to learn a lot of new college volleyball rules that were different from the high school game. Despite those challenges, Voltz found her place on Alden Street.
“Everyone on my team – including coaches and in my classes – are easy to talk to,” Voltz said. “When you step on campus here, it makes you feel at home.”
During her first season, Voltz totaled 136 kills, a .250 hitting percentage and 81 total blocks – good enough for third in the conference. The team finished 18-9, entering the postseason as the No. 3 seed. The Pride swept Coast Guard in the first round 3-0, but then experienced the opposite, getting swept by Babson 3-0 in the second round, failing to make the NCAA Championship tournament.
With one season under her belt, Voltz got past the first-year jitters and has had an exhilarating second year. In two fewer matches thus far, she has 41 more kills, a .82 increase in hitting percentage and 21 more blocks. Long noticed not only a change in her play, but in her personality as well.
“She’s broken out of her shell,” Long said. “Last year she was reserved and quiet, and we didn’t see much of her personality come through. We started to see it transform more in the spring. As you start to get more comfortable on campus and your teammates and coaches, you stop thinking so much about the little things – your mind focuses on volleyball.”
A big part of the team’s success is the bond and chemistry they have with each other.
“Before we go to warm up, we do this thing called Inspector Gadget where a song plays and each player has a specific beat they dance to,” Voltz said. “After warmups we do this thing called ‘I wills’ where we take turns saying something we’re going to do in the game. For example, I say I’m going to press on my blocks. It’s a good way to keep ourselves and each other accountable.”
One teammate knew of Voltz’s talent before she arrived on campus. Junior Kylie Wixted, who grew up in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., played against her in high school. Wixted’s school happens to be Connetquat, the school that made Voltz pursue playing collegiate volleyball after the big win her sophomore year of high school..
“I didn’t know her as well as I do now, but we always played against each other and she was always a presence on the net,” Wixted said. “She was pretty intimidating. But I got excited because a great player was coming to our program.”
Wixted said they still talk about playing on rival teams. “We’ll always argue and joke about it with each other,” she said.
Voltz’s parents, MariJane and Michael, have been her biggest supporters. Her parents don’t miss a Springfield match, regardless of where it is. “It’s thrilling to watch Maeve grow as a player and for the team to grow as a team,” MariJane said.
Michael referred to her play as “aMAEVEing” while MariJane called her the “Electric VOLTz.”
“My parents inspire me to be a great person,” Voltz said. “They’re both supportive and give everything their all.”
Voltz also gives credit to her teammates.
“They inspire me because I wouldn’t be the player I am without them,” Voltz said. “They pushed me to be a better human, and same with Coach. Everyone I’m surrounded by inspires me to be a better person.”
“The sky’s the limit for Maeve,” Long said. “We expect a lot from her and she’s risen to the occasion. She’s got a ton of potential and a lot more to give.”
The team plays its last regular-season game home against Babson on Saturday. Springfield is a perfect 10-0 in conference play, while Babson is 8-1. If the Pride win, they earn the right to host the NEWMAC playoffs.
“We want to host the NEWMACs. That’s our first goal,” Voltz said. “After that we want to win the NEWMAC. We’re hoping to go to the NCAA’s and host, but for right now our goals are to finish out conference play, and be first in our NEWMAC standings.”
Photo by Nick Pantages/The Student.