By: JARED KRAMP ’19, staff writer
The Lebanon Valley College women’s basketball team is currently preparing for their upcoming season with a fresh set of faces.
The Dutchmen are coming off a season in which they had a 12-14 record. Their season came to an end after losing a hard-fought game against Lycoming College in a MAC Commonwealth play-in-game.
Last year’s roster consisted of 11 players, six of whom will be returning to the court this season for the Dutchmen. In addition to these six players, the team will be bolstered by an incoming recruiting class of seven girls, the largest freshman class in years.
As a freshman, it can be intimidating to join a team of entirely fresh faces, so it is important to have a solid group of upperclassmen to welcome newcomers to the team.
“The upperclassmen have done a phenomenal job of taking the freshmen and making us feel welcome,” Molly Galvin, a freshman guard, said. “We eat two, sometimes three meals together a day, which helps us bond and get to know each other a lot.”
In addition to getting closer off the court, it is just as important for a team to bond on the court.
“We play pickup games with each other several times a week,” Galvin said. “This really helps us become familiar with how one another plays, and should get us all on the same page come game one.”
The flip-side to having such a large incoming freshman class usually means that there are many players not returning to the team, which is the case for LVC.
“Losing three seniors was scary because they were all post players and by far our most experienced players,” Caroline Scarff, a sophomore forward, said. “Lexie Lantz, Taylor Troutman and Hilary Yoh all brought something different to the team and they left some big shoes to fill.”
Current students, Jasmine Copeland and Jen Eck, are also not returning to the basketball team this season, both of whom had roles in the team’s success on the court last year. Copeland and Eck, along with Lantz, Troutman and Yoh, are going to be difficult to replace, but the Dutchmen are confident in their team this year.
“All of our returning players have game experience from previous seasons at LVC,” Scarff said. “We’ve got a solid group of freshmen. We brought in some big and strong girls to play in the post, as well as a lot of fast guards to add some speed in our backcourt.”
The women’s basketball team will get its season under way on Wednesday, Nov. 15, with an away game at Misericordia University. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.