ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) has released their fourth preseason poll of the 2025-26 academic year which was the 2025 SLIAC Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Gorloks were picked to finish third this season while receiving 37 points.
The Gorloks enter the 2025 season coming off a 14-17 overall record that included a 7-9 conference record and a SLIAC Tournament quarterfinals victory. This season, the team returns 15 student-athletes and four starters from last season which includes three all-conference selections in Eva Tarlos, Grace White, and Jaycee Lewis as Tarlos was named the 2024 Freshman of the Year.
Tarlos returns for her sophomore season as she is coming off a Second Team All-Conference selection and finished last season first on the team with 235 kills, a hitting percentage of .253 (sixth in conference), and 41 service aces. In addition, she led the team with a 2.86 points per set and a 2.12 kills per set percentages. On the defensive side of the net, Tarlos finished second on the team with 63 blocks (19 solo & 44 assisted, finished ninth in conference) and a 0.57 blocks per set percentage (ninth in conference). Lastly, she led the team with 317 points and started all 31 matches.
White, a Third Team All-Conference selection from last season returns for her junior season as she is coming off a great sophomore season where she finished second on the team in several categories on both sides of the net. On offense, White finished second on the team with 275 points (2.50 points per set) and 226 kills (2.05 kills per set) percentages. On the defensive side, she led the team with 67 blocks (29 solo & 38 assisted, eighth in conference) and a .61 blocks per set percentage (eighth in conference).
The final returning all-conference selection from last year's squad is Jaycee Lewis as she returns for her senior season and is coming off a Third Team All-Conference selection. Last year, she led the team with 470 digs that included a 4.23 digs per set percentage as both statistics finished fourth in the conference. In addition, she posted a .959 reception percentage on 629 attempts.
Head Coach Merry Graf and her staff are excited to welcome seven new additions to the program that includes three transfers and four from high school level ranks. The transfer class includes two student-athletes from Fontbonne University in defensive specialist Maddie Bock and setter Riley Watson. The final transfer addition to the roster is setter Shalamar Szarka as she comes from Central Maine Community College.
Bock, a St. Louis native, recorded 181 digs that included a 1.85 digs per set percentage. In addition, she recorded 42 service aces and 46 points last season for the Griffins.
Watson, a setter from O'Fallon, Missouri, comes to Webster for her junior season and is coming off being named to the SLIAC Third Team All-Conference team last season with the Griffins. Last season, she led Fontbonne with 926 assists for a 9.45 assist per set percentage which finished second in the league. In addition, she posted 45 kills, 40 services, and 99.5 points. On the defensive side, she recorded 211 digs for a 2.15 digs per set percentage while adding 26 blocks (3 solo and 23 assisted).
Szarka, a setter from Osoyoos, BC, Canada comes to Webster after a one-year stop at Central Maine CC where she recorded 221 assists for a 4.25 assists per set percentage. In addition, she tallied 38 kills, 27 service aces, and 68.5 points. On the defensive side of the net, she recorded 114 digs for a 2.19 digs per set ratio while adding five blocks.
The 2025 first-year class features two middle hitters in Carley Hersberger (Rockford, Michigan) and Catherine Rennier (St. Louis, Missouri), setter Brynn Peloquin (Evergreen Park, Illinois), and defensive specialist Abby Murzyn (Chicago, Illinois).
The Gorloks will open the 2025 season with nine non-conference matches and will play their first three matches at the Washington University Bear Invite on August 29 and 30 in St. Louis, Missouri against Loras College, Bluffton University, and Willamette University. Four days later on September 3, the team will play in front of their home crowd for the first time this season taking on the Eutectics of University of Health Science and Pharmacy in Grant Gym. Following the match against UHSP, the team will travel to Memphis, Tennessee on September 5 and 6 to compete in the Rhodes College Classic with contests against Austin College, Hendrix College, and Rhodes College.
The Gorloks will open conference play on September 20 by hosting a SLIAC tri-match against MUW and Blackburn for Senior Day. A week later on September 27, the team will travel to Spalding University for a conference tri-match against Lyon College and Spalding University. Following a conference match at Westminster College on October 1, the team will return home on October 8 and host Washington University of St. Louis for their annual Dig Pink Night. Three days later on October 11, the Gorloks will resume conference play by participating in the Blackburn College Tri-match on with contests against Greenville University and Blackburn College.
Two weeks later on October 25, the Gorloks will host a conference tri-match with contests against Westminster College and Eureka College. In the month of November, the team will close out the regular season with a four-game road stand that includes three conference matches against Spalding University, MUW, and Eureka College and a non-conference match against Hannibal LaGrange University.
