A New Athletic Season Begins

Warrior Volleyball and Soccer
Welcome back, Warrior fans! Who’s ready for another year of cheering on our friends out on the court and field? I sure am. As always, we are starting the fall season with men's soccer and women’s volleyball. This is our second year as members of the NCCAA League, and our student-athletes are already bringing the Warrior spirit to the Christian colleges across the Midwest. 

The women’s volleyball team has twenty matches set up for the season. Kylie Wehling, a senior pre-med, four-year student-athlete, and one of the team captains, shared how she is looking forward to this season and the new challenges it will bring, as well as savoring her last moments on the team before she graduates. Kylie explained how the team has adopted a new unofficial motto for the year. The motto is “The Three Cs: Communication. Collaboration. Congratulations.” It is obvious the motto has already been embraced into the game by the way the team members are communicating on the court, working together through the good and bad rallies, and encouraging each other no matter what. 

So far, the soccer team has played four out of the twelve games of their season. All have been away except for one, which was played on the fields of the Speedway Sports Complex. With the new baseball diamonds on the 49ers Fields, Speedway has become the new home base for Union to host soccer matches. Brayan Martins, a junior business major and team captain, mentioned that the team is excited for the new transition, but concerned that fans are not going to want to drive to support the team. He was pleasantly surprised when about thirty people showed up to cheer for the first home game at Speedway. When asked about how the team is doing so far, Brayan said, “I see a lot of great things. Our skill level has improved and the attitude is in the right place. We’re learning how to play together and how to better win.” 

On Tuesday, September 23rd, there are home games scheduled for both volleyball and soccer teams. The soccer team will be playing at Speedway at 3:30pm, and the volleyball team will be playing in the Thunderdome at 6:00pm. Make sure to grab your Union merch and support our Warriors! 

Women’s Volleyball Team

Jovanna Maldonado #1

Dailey Green #6

Ariel Patterson #9 

Emma Bermeo #10

Hailey Orian #11

Nyadheal Dak #12

Kaitlyn Shaffer #13

Mikalah Green #14

Kylie Wehling #18

Darian Horst #19

Nyanbay Puok #25

Men’s Soccer Team 

Bernie Kiyala #0

Peyton Bowers #0

Laroba Abdalla #2

Obsuman Waktole #3

Alejandro Caballero #4

Almas Smith #5

Lucas Mamier #6

Peter Maniriho #7

Brayan Martins #8

Dominick Maldonado #9

Josue Silverio #10

Gabriel Costa #11

Michaelti Lalanne #12

Cameron Kirstain #13

Javier Gadea-Sanchez #14

Rene Adian-Gaus #15

Sam Edgerton #16

Brayden Marroquin #17

Garrett Meade #20

Nolice Matumano #21

Darian Roberts #22

Aaron Cabrera Ramos #23

By: Sami Hoffer