The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team will be looking to secure its fifth consecutive winning season as it embarks on the 2026 campaign.
In 2025, the Spartans rebounded from a 0-6 start to finish the year with an overall mark of 17-14. The team pulled upsets over Emory and WashU in conference play and placed fifth at the University Athletic Association Tournament after a 4-3 mark in conference play.
Newcomers
Head Coach Karen Farrell, entering her 25th season coaching CWRU, added seven first-year players to a roster of 14 returning student-athletes. Defensive specialist Sophie Bell, setter Piper Starling, outside hitter Marisa Guan, right-side hitter Maia Khetani, outside hitter Maya Zarow, and middle blockers Ava Felgar and Remy Foos will all be hoping for their collegiate debuts in 2026.
Outside/Right Side Hitters
Despite losing All-America honorable mention Kalli Wall to graduation, Case Western Reserve returns a wealth of experience on the outside and at the pins.
Senior Emily Goodpaster played in 29 of the 31 matches in 2025, recording 88 kills, 201 digs, and 22 service aces in 90 sets. Across 87 career matches, she has averaged 0.79 kills, 2.25 digs, and 1.06 points per set. Senior Katie Yanni brings a veteran presence to the outside as well after appearing in 22 matches and 61 sets last season. She put down 96 kills (1.57 per set) and had 52 digs (0.87 per set) in 2025. Junior Sienna Olson saw time in 28 sets in 2025 with junior Colleen Nudd (nine sets) adding depth on the outside.
On the right side, junior Madeline Halter appeared in every match for the Spartans, totaling 163 kills (1.44 per set), 53 digs (0.47 per set), and 31 total blocks (0.27 per set). Sophomore Olivia Myers along with Guan, Khetani, and Zarow will be looking to earn their first collegiate action for Case Western Reserve at the pin positions.
Setters
The team returns both its primary setters from 2025 this season. Junior Elena Esquivel played every set for CWRU and shined at all six spots on the court, totaling 88 kills, 703 assists, 316 digs, 55 total blocks and 22 service aces. Junior Avery Basinger assisted on 402 kills and added 250 digs during the 2025 campaign. Sophomore Kaitlyn Harris (10 career sets) and Starling add depth at the setter position.
Defensive Specialists
Case Western Reserve's sole returning All-UAA honoree is junior Sophia Datto, who wore the libero shirt during the season for the Spartans. An all-conference honorable mention, Datto appeared in all 120 sets, totaling 553 digs, 82 assists, and 25 service aces. She is 28 digs away from 1,000 for her career. Senior Sude Naz Item and sophomore Thea Beran were also significant members of the rotation last season. Item missed just one match, contributing 225 digs, 20 assists, and 23 service aces. Beran, in her first season of collegiate volleyball, led the squad with 27 service aces in just 79 sets and added 172 digs.
Bell adds depth defensively for CWRU in her first year in Cleveland.
Middle Blockers
The Spartans, who lost two-time All-America honoree Amanda Ngo and Kiya Levy to graduation, will look toward sophomores Kate Williams and Isabel Haytayan along with Felgar and Foos to step up at the net in 2026.
Coaching Staff
Farrell has a 456-309 (.596) record with the Spartans in her 24 total seasons at CWRU. Including her six seasons on the bench at Clark, Farrell has an overall mark of 533-414 (.562) as a head coach across 30 years. Joining Farrell on the coaching staff is full-time Assistant Coach Kim Waters (14th season), Associate Head Coach Nelson Wittenmyer (34th season at CWRU, 21st season in position), Assistant Head Coach Jeff Harrah (25th season), and Assistant Head Coach and former player Bailey Hagedorn (fifth season).
Schedule
The Spartans start the year with a home match against Mount Union on September 1. The team will face Kenyon, Heidelberg, and Hanover at the Great Lakes Cross Over in Tiffin, Ohio, before returning home for four consecutive matches. The squad hosts Baldwin Wallace on September 8 and will play Hiram, Allegheny, and Colorado College as part of the CWRU Quad on September 11 and 12. The team will then play its next 11 matches away from Cleveland, traveling to Oberlin, Grove City, and Granville, Ohio, and Rochester and Manhattan, New York. At Grove City, the Spartans will take on Marietta, Mount St. Joseph, and Thiel, while Case Western Reserve will face Ohio Wesleyan and Denison in Granville, Ohio.
At the first UAA Round Robin, the Spartans will take on Carnegie Mellon, Chicago, and host Rochester, while the team will face Brandeis and WashU at the second UAA Round Robin on October 11 on the campus of NYU.
Case Western Reserve will host crosstown rival John Carroll on October 14 before a trip to Otterbein a few days later. The following week, CWRU heads to St. Louis for the third UAA Round Robin, wrapping up conference play with matches against NYU and Emory on October 25.
The Spartans finish the regular season with four home matches, hosting William Smith and Calvin on Halloween, Bethany on November 4, and Wooster on November 7. The 2026 UAA Volleyball Championship will be on November 14 and 15 at the Highmark Center on the campus of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
Of the squad's 27 opponents, nine made the NCAA Tournament in 2025 with Calvin reaching the quarterfinals, WashU and Carnegie Mellon advancing to the Round of 16, Emory and William Smith winning their First Round matchups, and Hanover, Colorado, Otterbein, and NYU dropping their first matches of the tournament.
For the third consecutive season, at-large bids to the postseason will be made by the NCAA Power Index (NPI) with the full bracket released on Monday, November 16. The first three rounds of the tournament will be held from Thursday, November 19 to Saturday, November 21 at eight campus sites.
