SAN JOSE, Calif. – The 2025 San José State volleyball schedule is complete after changes to the Mountain West schedule were announced on Wednesday with the addition of Grand Canyon to the conference.

The Spartans will start the year at home with back-to-back home matches with UC Santa Barbara on August 29 and 30.

The team then travels to future (and past) conference foe Hawai`I for the OUTRIGGER Invitational, Sept. 3-5, where the Spartans will play Utah Valley, St. John’s and the Rainbow Wahine.

SJSU does not leave California for the rest of September, playing at the Mustang Invitational against California and Cal Poly September 13 and 14, a home match with Santa Clara on the 16th, and at the USF Challenge, September 16-19, against the Dons twice and CSUN.

The Spartans open the 18-match conference season with home matches against UNLV and San Diego State on September 25 and 27. The team will travel to Logan and Fresno for the first two road matches of the schedule.

SJSU will play five home matches in October – Nevada (10/9) Air Force (10/11) Fresno State (10/18), Grand Canyon (10/23) and New Mexico (10/25). The team will end the home portion of the conference schedule in November with matches against Boise State (11/13) and Utah State (11/15).

The 2025 MW Championship will be played November 26-29 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.

#AllSpartans

By Greg Peters

As far as summer high school volleyball pick-up games go, last Tuesday’s game inside the River Falls Public Montessori’s gym had a different feeling to it. While the knee pads are sliding up over the calves and the ponytails are being rubber-banded, normal pre-pick-up game chatter for the River Falls Wildcat girls might include Brooke Dusek’s latest Tik Tok. It would also likely include the latest summertime high school dating drama discussions.

Not this day.

River Falls volleyball royalty was in the gym this hot humid July day and the current crop of Wildcats were in cool mode acting 10 years their senior with their visitor.

“I’m grateful to be able to poke my head in here and play a little bit with the girls,” said River Falls class of 2020 grad Emily Banitt. “They’re playing faster than we played in high school. I haven’t seen them play in person in a long time. I told Brooke (Dusek) that her out of system hitting is going to take her so far.”

“I love when we actually get them (Wildcat volleyball alums) back in town and they want to be here in the gym,” said Head Coach Sara Kealy.

Kealy has had 19 of her players graduate to play college volleyball in the last eight years alone, none receiving more accolades than Banitt. 

The 5’10” outside hitter with a Spiderman-like vertical leap helped the Wildcats to four straight WIAA state tournaments in volleyball and earned all-state honors her senior season. She was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Freshman Team her first season at Loyola University Chicago and when the school jumped to the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2022, Banitt garnered all-conference honors her junior and senior years. Banitt had a fifth year of eligibility due to the 2020 Covid season, and she was named first-team all-conference at the College of Charleston, where she also played beach volleyball in the spring.

“Beach volleyball was so fun,” said Banitt. “I wish I would’ve played beach all four years. The transition was a little confusing at first, but it was easy to pick it up once you got the hang of it.”

Banitt finished her college indoor career with 1,367 kills.

“Emily understands the game so well because of the way she sees the court,” said Kealy. “She’s not robotic out there. It’s fluidity and she takes what the defense gives her.”

When the Wildcat volleyball team finished state runner-up in 2017, Banitt was a sophomore starter. The majority of the current Wildcat team was in third or fourth grade.

“Amelie (Pankonin) was my ball girl,” said Banitt realizing the passage of time.

“Do you think it was a coincidence I put Amelie with you?” Kealy asked Banitt rhetorically. “No, I put her with you because I wanted her to be you.”

Pankonin is on the right track. She recently received national recognition playing at the AAU Junior National Tournament in Orlando in June for Northern Lights Volleyball Club. Pankonin has already received a plethora of Division 1 offers to date.

Banitt is polite and cordial off the court, but on it, she has the intensity of a cornered honey badger.

“I was trying to show Brooke (Dusek) and Amelie (Pankonin) how to push the girls on both sides of the net in practice,” said Banitt. “That makes the team better.”

Banitt is smart enough to know how the younger girls look up to her and humble enough to care.

“I looked up to Izzy Barr when I was younger,” said Banitt. “Finding the players that were always competing hard in the gym and giving it their all was the player that we looked up to and wanted to be. It touches my heart because I want to be a good example of what a good teammate looks like not only in skill but hyping up teammates.”

Banitt, who has a degree in exercise science from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA from the College of Charleston, wasn’t just playing for recreation; she’s punching the workout time clock of her own. Banitt is now the second former Wildcat volleyball player to sign a professional contract. She’ll be leaving on Aug. 17 to play in Zagreb, Croatia. Zagreb is the capital city in Croatia, with a metro area population of about one million people. Former Wildcat middle blocker Marissa Stockman played in France last year and will be playing in Greece this year.

“My college coach said if there’s any itch to do it, just try it for a year,” said Banitt. “I’m going to try it and see what happens.”

“To be able to say she plays professionally is amazing,” said Kealy.

“The volleyball world has just blown up the last couple years,” said Banitt about all the different professional volleyball opportunities for women.  

“Women’s sports, in general, have taken off,” said Kealy. “I obviously want to teach skills and goal setting and how to show up on time and responsibility, but volleyball is a game Emily can play her entire life.”

“Not only has Sara (Kealy) taught us volleyball skills but so many life skills, too,” said Banitt. “I learned those at a young age because of Sara. She not only coached us for volleyball, but she coached us how to be better people.”

Banitt brought her winning ways to the Montessori gym on a hot Tuesday in July for some pick-up volleyball. Her former ball girls weren’t little ball girls anymore. They were playing fast, crushing the ball, and even blocking Banitt once or twice. One errant shot ricocheted off senior Addy Nesbitt’s shoe and smacked Banitt on the side of the face as Coach Kealy yelled the score, “8-7!”

Every brow in the gym lifted with a collective nervous gasp from the current Wildcats as their childhood heroine was welcomed back with a volleyball to the face and somehow, at that moment, seemed like a regular human. 

“Oh, it’s totally fine,” said Banitt smiling and shaking her head. “That’s volleyball.”

Every point the rest of the set came courtesy of Emily Banitt.

“Did you see her cross-court side hit?” whispered one current Wildcat player.

“That was so sick,” said another girl in response.

And the hierarchy of Wildcat volleyball royalty was quickly restored to its rightful place.       

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 

Timeline 

Celebrating the 75th Season of Competition (2025-26) 
 

• 1926 – A new Constitution of the PSNAA is rewritten, led by East Stroudsburg’s Dr. Tracy Allen, Principal of the institution 

• May 1927 – L.P. Hill of Cheyney Training School for Teachers raises the question why they are not included in the Association.  By September, this is remedied by the Principals, but the caveat in the Constitution includes members are not “obligated to participate or enter into any athletic relations with any other members” of the Association 

• December 1938 – The Athletic Directors meet to work on scheduling among members, in total 42 events are scheduled to be contested among agreeable institutions.  No one is required to play anyone though. 

• December 1, 1947 – Board of Presidents of the State Teachers Colleges adopt proposal to form an Athletic Conference. Nothing occurs for two years as discussion held about who bears the cost of such an undertaking 

• First Executive Committee of the PSTCAC is George Miller (Indiana) President; Oscar Liljenstein (E. Stroud), Vice President; and John Hock (Bloomsburg), Secretary/Treasurer 

• December 1951 – Tennis and Swimming added as conference sports in addition to track, soccer, basketball and football. 

• May 1952, Waldo Tippin of Clarion raises the question about how Conference should handle the eligibility of Korean War Veterans.  Conference’s accepts NCAA rules for Veterans and an influx of vets finds their way onto many athletic teams across the membership. 

• From 1951 to 1953, the “districts” are not used and the Conference employs the “Rocky Mountain Point System” to determine champions.  To earn points in the system teams must play a minimum number of contests against other Conference members (Football – 4; Basketball – 8; Baseball – 4; Soccer – 2).  A meet for wrestling and track and field would determine conference champions in those sports. 

• The Rocky Mountain System had its critics and the Conference then adopted the Saylor System, created by a Penn State University economist to determine a rating point system to determine champions. In addition to the football, basketball and baseball minimums above, Soccer, Tennis, Golf and Swimming were all set with a three contest minimum 

• By August 1956 Divisions are created, 6 members in the West and 8 members in the East, Shippensburg then moved to the West but only for basketball in 1958. 

• 1960 – The Pennsylvania State Legislature creates “State Colleges”, dropping “Teachers” from the campus names.  The Conference follows and renames the league the “Pennsylvania State Colleges Athletic Conference” 

• By April of 1960, all 14 campuses participate as members of the National Association Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Some have chosen dual membership in the NCAA including Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.  Membership numbers in each association fluctuate until 1973 when all are members of the NCAA, with a few NAIA members. 

• February 1966 – Most likely out of political envy, the Board of Presidents strips Indiana of its membership privileges after it receives “University” status from the PA State Legislature.  By the Fall of 1971, under the leadership of Athletic Director Herm Sledzik, Indiana returns to full membership in the Conference 

• West Chester had also joined the Middle Atlantic Conference in 1958 to associate with many of the Philadelphia area schools that are now Division I.  By 1971 in response to dwindling participation in events by West Chester, the Conference adopts a policy that requires entry in their events or face a year of ineligibility in all events a year later. 

• November of 1974, the very first specific discussions to include women’s teams in Conference activities occurs and is met with limited enthusiasm, despite the passage of Title IX in 1972 

• In the early 1970s state employees were granted option to collectively bargain. In the 1974 contract with faculty, the PA Department of Education includes the position of Director of Equal Opportunity in Sport (DEOS) on each campus.  The position reports directly to DOE in Harrisburg.  Secretary of Education John Pittenger felt as though campuses were being too slow in affirmative action programming and activities and thus forced campus hands in this area with this position.  The DOE was “committed to the elimination of practices, policies and programs which result in the limited participation for women and minority students in college athletic programs” 

• October 28, 1974, Millersville’s Assistant Athletic Director Marge Trout was named the first DEOS on a member campus. 

• By Fall of 1975, member institutions had varied Divisional status in the NCAA as “divisions” had just been created in the Association.  West Chester was designated by the NCAA as Division I, but football was Division II.  In total 8 members are in Division II and 5 others in Division III.  A few members, particularly in the Western Division are also members of the NAIA.  

• The Divisional alignment debate rages through 1976 when the Cheyney Athletic Director makes four different motions to align the entire conference in one affiliation.  For Division II – defeated; for Division III – defeated; for allowing DII/DIII option – defeated and for NAIA/NCAA membership – defeated. The debate continued.  

• Over a debate of whether PSCAC members should conduct Spring Football Practice, which is adopted as policy, West Chester resigns from the Conference in March 1977.   

• November 1979, East Stroudsburg head football coach Denny Douds speaks to the Athletic Directors encouraging a single level membership and national association affiliation.  IUP Athletic Director Herm Sledzik forwards a motion that by Fall 1980 all Conference members would align to NCAA Division II and permit Spring Football practice.  The motion passes 8 to 5. 

• From 1974 to 1977, women’s sports development moved ahead marginally, until February 1977 when Dr. William Duncan of Millersville, under the urging of Marge Trout, pushed the Board of Presidents to conduct a study regarding the inclusion of women in the Conference structure. Following a study in the Fall of 1977 a Committee was formed to rewrite the Conference’s Constitution to include women’s athletics, which was led by Duncan 

• The new Constitution, included “Divisions” for both men and women with separate regulations operating each Division, but with some over-arching governance.  The Board of Presidents adopted this new Constitution in the Fall of 1977.  Each “Division” (Men’s or Women’s) would alternate the presidency of the over-arching Conference, and as a result Marge Trout became the first female president of an athletic conference in the U.S.  The Sporting News reported the tenure of Trout with an article entitled “And Now a Gal Conference Boss” in April 1978. 

• By May 1981, under the leadership of Athletics Director Dick Yoder, West Chester returns to full membership in the Conference 

• July 1983, PSAC hires first commissioner, Don Kelley, former Athletic Director of Illinois State University.  Kelley would serve until 1989.  Kelley establishes the first conference office in Hershey, PA. 

• Fall 1989, Kelley is replaced as Commissioner by Charles “Tod” Eberle, former Athletic Director of Lock Haven University where he also served as a professor in the Physical Education department. 

• Spring 2006, Mansfield elects to drop Football as an NCAA sport, leaving the Conference with 13 members playing football.  Long Island University – CW Post joins the PSAC as an Associate Member in football and field hockey and will compete through the Fall 2012 seasons in both sports. 

• Summer 2010, PSAC incorporates as a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation, severing ties with the PA State System of Higher Education as an affiliated organization.  

• 2019, For the first time in the Conference’s history, a full member from outside the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania joins the PSAC as Shepherd University of West Virginia joins. 

Majority of Notes Taken from: 

A History of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: An Analysis of Selected Critical Incidents.  

Doctoral Dissertation 

Dr. Allen Hall, University of Akron, 1984  

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 13th consecutive year, the Wichita State volleyball team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award.

Wichita State completed a strong academic year in 2024-25 with a 3.69 team GPA.

“It is very exciting to see that the record-setting, on-court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom,” says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. “The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes.”  

The AVCA award initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honoring volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or a 4.1 on a 5.0 scale. More than 1,400 high school and collegiate teams earned the Team Academic Award this season.

Season tickets for the 2025 Wichita State volleyball season are now available. Fans interested in becoming a season ticket holder can receive more information by clicking HERE.

The season begins under the GCU Arena lights with the return of the electric Lope-A-Palooza match on Aug. 29, featuring a matchup against Long Island. The opening weekend continues on the home court with contests against UT Rio Grande Valley on Aug. 30 and Gonzaga on Aug. 31. The Gonzaga match will mark the return of former GCU star, Klaire Mitchell, who is a Zags assistant coach.

“Our preseason schedule has a great build to it,” second-year Lopes head coach Kendra Potts said. “We’re so excited to host the first two weekends at GCU and to play in front of our home crowd that is the best in the country. We’ve got great teams coming in for two solid weekends of highly competitive volleyball.”

The Lopes remain in Phoenix the following week for another trio of nonconference showdowns. GCU hosts East Texas A&M on Sept. 5 before welcoming Washington State on Sept. 6. A matchup with in-state foe Northern Arizona rounds out the home stand on Sept. 7.

GCU then will head to Lincoln, Nebraska, for a nationally significant weekend, beginning with a neutral-site clash against Drake on Sept. 12. The following day, the Lopes face perennial powerhouse Nebraska on Sept. 13 inside the Huskers’ Bob Devaney Center. GCU last faced Nebraska in 2015.

“Going to Nebraska was strategic for the similar moves that GCU is making as an athletic department with the transition to the Mountain West,” Potts said. “Being able to be in the space and the arena that Nebraska has is a goal for us as a program to know and believe that we can compete at the highest level.”

The nonconference finale brings GCU crosstown to Tempe for a three-match series hosted by Arizona State. The Lopes meet Pepperdine on Sept. 18, take on Milwaukee on Sept. 19 and cap the stretch against ASU on Sept. 20.

“Being able to come back to the Valley and compete against Arizona State, a top-10 program, along with Pepperdine and Milwaukee, really rounds out the first four weeks of the season for us to prepare for the level of the Mountain West,” Potts said.

GCU will open the conference schedule against Boise State on Sept. 25 at home with a shot at the conference’s reigning champions on Oct. 4 at home.

The Lopes will not head on the road until Oct. 9 at UNLV.

GCU will close the regular-season schedule with four consecutive road matches at nAir Force (Nov. 13), Nevada (Nov. 15), Colorado State (Nov. 20) and Wyoming (Nov. 22).

The conference tournament will take place in Las Vegas with the opening round on Nov. 26, the semifinals on Nov. 28 and championship on Nov. 29.

“We are super grateful to be able to make this transition when we did and for what the GCU administration does for us to be able to put ourselves in a highly competitive space to compete for championships,” Potts said. “This also helps us to set higher sights for the NCAA Tournament and to give our student-athletes a well-rounded, top-notch experience.”