Women’s Volleyball Wins ECAC Championship, Anne Beckemeyer Wins MVP

By Dorian Alerte | Published by December 7, 2021

Following their three sets to one loss on Nov. 4 to Rowan University in the second round of the New Jersey Athletics Conference playoffs, Kean’s Women’s Volleyball team was disappointed that their season was over. Or so they thought.

“I was pretty disappointed,” said freshman middle hitter Anne Beckemeyer. “It definitely was not how I wanted to end the season.”

Eight days later, the team made the four-and-a-half-hour trip to Alfred State College of Technology where they would win the East Coast Athletic Conference championship.

Despite their season ending, Kean’s women’s volleyball team is excited about their ECAC championship and looking forward to next fall.

“It was a much better way to end the season,” said Head Coach Don Perkins. “For everything that they had invested physically, to have something to show for it, makes a big difference in how they’re going to remember the season.”

The Cougars played Alfred State in the first round of the tournament. Alfred State took an early 7-1 lead in the first set. The Cougars followed with a run of their own, scoring nine points to three. After tying the first set at 10, the Cougars did not take a lead.

The Cougars took control of the match beginning in the second set. Beckemeyer went on a run of her own, obtaining one kill, a service ace, and forcing two errors on Alfred State, bringing the score to 8-5. The Cougars did not surrender the second set lead and won the second set 25-19 assisted by kills from sophomore Ashley Smith, junior Morgan Hall, and freshmen, Talyor Micheaux and Julia Vacca.

After tying the match at one set apiece, the Cougars won the third and fourth sets,  25-15 and 25-20 respectively. Smith and Hall tied for the team-high in kills, each one with 12, followed by Beckemeyer with 10 points of her own. Junior Sedona Gaard and Senior Amanda DeLio combined for 33 digs.

The next day, the team played in the final round of the tournament against New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Rutgers-Camden.

“I wanted to one-up ourselves,” said Beckemeyer. “I wanted to show that we’ve been working and that we’ve grown throughout the season.”

Several early kills by Beckemeyer and Micheaux, along with service aces by DeLio and Gaard gave the Cougars an 8-4 lead in the first set. They never allowed Rutgers-Camden to gain a lead in that set and won 25-20.

Following the first set victory, the Scarlet Raptors took control of the first set with a 5-1 run before Coach Perkins called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars allowed two more points to be scored before going on a run of their own. Sophomore setter Kylie Brua tied the set at eight points with a kill. Both teams traded runs and points throughout the set before two key kills by Hall allowed Micheaux to end the set on a kill, winning 25-23.

The third set began very similarly to the end of the second set, with both teams trading runs and points. With the Cougars leading 3-2 early on, Beckemeyer took over the set scoring seven of her 15 kills, helping propel the Cougars to the 25-14 victory, completing the sweep.

Beckeyemeyer scored a match-high 19 points in the championship game. Hall, Smith, Micheaux, Brua, and Vacca all combined for another 43 points, while Gaard would amass a match-high 22 digs.

Following the tournament, the Cougars had four players named to the ECAC All-Tournament team. Smith, Hall, and Gaard all were named to the All-Tournament team, while Beckemeyer was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It was about all of us getting better,” said Beckemeyer. “I’m grateful for the whole team for being able to set me up for that accomplishment.”

After their ECAC championship, Beckemeyer is looking forward to continuing working with her teammates for years to come.

“We want each other to succeed so much,” said Beckemeyer. “We just want what’s best for each other.”

Coach Perkins is also excited to watch his team continue to grow and work as next fall approaches.

“We’re really excited for what the future looks like for this group,” said Perkins.

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