Principia College’s Volleyball team ended its season early because it didn’t have enough players. The team started the season with seven players but after playing several exhibition games, the roster was reduced to six.
A team needs at least six players on its roster, according to the NCAA women’s volleyball rulebook. Other colleges in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) like Greenville, Webster, and Westminster have more than 20 players on their roster.
“Unfortunately, due to recent injuries, we had to postpone our season for the year,” said Head Volleyball Coach Geoffrey Davis.
Sophomore Dana Galinis, one of the co-captains on the team, said the team had a meeting at the start of the season where they had the option to choose if they wanted to continue the season or not. “Our girls wanted to push through and see how long we could last,” she said.
One of the players got injured in their first conference game. After knowing the extent of the injury, Galinis said they couldn’t continue playing the season, leaving the team with five players.
Senior Neha Bandrapalli said the team is sad that all their games have been canceled because of the situation. She said she is hopeful for the coming years. “The girls we have this year have so much potential, the freshmen and sophomores, they’re amazing. I think they’ll take the team really far,” she said.
Bandrapalli said in the past, the volleyball team had to pull players from other teams whose primary sport isn’t volleyball. “This year, we have had the most primary volleyball players which has been fun,” she said.
Despite having their season end early, Galinis said their team dynamic is still strong.
“Since our team is small, we still have a solid friend group,” she said. “We’re friends before teammates which helps with the culture on the court. If anything, we’ve gotten stronger.”
Bandrapalli said she doesn’t know how to feel about her last season being canceled. “I’m a little disheartened about not being able to compete for a full season, but I’m just trying to make the most out of it. At the very least, I’m just happy to be with the girls and have some opportunities to practice,” she said. “I love playing volleyball here and I love playing with the girls.”
The team was scheduled to play 20 games this season but only played three before the season was canceled.
Last year, Principia’s volleyball team had 10 players. According to the Principia Athletics website, the team secured their first winning set in two years. However, only three players returned to the team this year from that squad.
This is not the first time a Principia team has had to cancel their season. Senior Emma Franklin, a softball player, said their season was canceled in the spring of 2023 because they didn’t have enough eligible players on the team.
