Men’s Volleyball Team Withdraws From Season
Kai Goldstein | March 25, 2025
Warren Wilson College’s (WWC) men’s volleyball team faces an uncertain future after players voted to end the season early.
“We had lower numbers [of players] this year than expected,” Robin Davis, the athletic director and women’s basketball coach at WWC, said. “That left us with a decision to make if we didn’t have enough numbers, and we were only a quarter of the way through the season, so it’s a long season to get people who were already feeling like it was a big commitment.”
Towards the end of February, the WWC men’s volleyball coach, Kristy Kamer, moved to determine whether the majority of the players wanted to continue the season by taking an anonymous vote from the team. The vote concluded that most players did not want to continue the season.
Walden McLeod, a freshman business major who originally came to WWC to play volleyball, struggled with his decision before the vote.
“I had already been playing for more than a month with these guys…but now that the ultimate question is really out there, I wanted to say I lean towards voting to end this.”
Many factors led to the decision for the players to vote to end the season, including the departure of a key player.
“People were really tired … and at different emotional states,” McLeod said. “Before the season even really started, our best guy had to quit … That was really hard on a lot of the guys that played last year because he was the one that had really advocated for it and brought a lot of people into it, taught them and made them feel really comfortable and have fun with the sport.”
The effects of Hurricane Helene and personal responsibilities made it difficult for some players to find the motivation to keep playing.
“I got pretty behind on work, which is tough,” McLeod said. “I did have the time realistically, but it was just getting used to the impact on my body and mind using my time like that and playing volleyball so much.”
An additional discouraging factor was the departure of the previous well-liked and inspiring men’s coach, Jack Stark, over the Summer of 2024. Kamer stepped up to take leadership of both the men’s and the women’s volleyball teams. The women’s team continues.
The team got a redshirting form, which allows players who wish to play another year to retain eligibility for the season as long as they withdrew in time.
“It’s still a sport we support,” Davis said. “We just gotta figure out a better model.”