Two years ago, the Eastern Michigan University women’s volleyball program was firmly in rebuild mode.
Head Coach Kevin Foeman was hired in March of 2023, and a season of transition followed, with the team posting a 5-25 record in the fall of that year in a campaign to forget.
Forget they did; in 2024, the Eagles posted an eight-win improvement year-over-year in one of the largest single season turnarounds in program history.
Heading into this season, Foeman wants even more from his group and has high hopes for a spot in the Mid-American Conference tournament.
“I need another eight-win improvement,” he said in regards to what his expectations were for the Eagles in 2025. “We need to realistically be healthy and happy and have a chance in November to fight for a MAC playoff berth."
Leading the squad into the new year will be sophomore middle blocker Hatteras Welker, who has been an instant sensation since stepping on campus last year.
Welker, named to this year’s preseason All-MAC squad and to the 2024 MAC All-Freshman team, set a school record for most blocks by a freshman last season along with leading the conference in that statistic to boot.
“I think she’s going to continue along her progression,” Foeman said in regards to his squad’s most high profile player. “I think she'll progress, and she'll progress both offensively and defensively, to where we'll see a little bit of a jump in the number of kills she gets."
Welker isn’t the only key contributor from last year returning to the team in 2025 – Ella Voorhees is as well.
The senior serves as a defensive stalwart for the Eagles, having led the team in assists and placing third on the stat sheet in digs last year, holding the setter/defensive specialist role for the program.
Foeman emphasized that it will be a “team effort” that leads to success for the green and white in 2025.
“I think that's what we can expect – we're just gonna be very balanced,” he said.
The MAC preseason coach’s poll has Eastern Michigan projected to finish eighth in the conference this year. However, Foeman is not deterred by the media’s low expectations of his camp.
“At the end of the day, we know what we have to do,” he said. “We know exactly where we expect to finish. So we create enough motivation within our walls that we don't necessarily need that whole support material to get us going."
Regardless of how this season plays out, there’s one overarching goal that looms large for the green and white.
“We want to make Eastern Michigan volleyball something special, and I think everyone is on board to make that happen,” Foeman said.
