On Aug. 29 through Aug. 31, six of Albion’s fall sports kicked and threw themselves into gear.
Both the women’s and men’s soccer teams started their season with wins, along with the women’s volleyball team. Men’s golf and both men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed as well, each team getting started on the upcoming fall season.
Director of Athletics Jennifer Rushton said the sports teams “put in a lot of work” over the summer and during pre-season camp.
“Watching them compete and do what they do is really fun for us,” Rushton said.
Women’s Volleyball
Women’s volleyball opened its season with a game against Wisconsin Lutheran College on Aug. 29 in Kresge Gymnasium. The match ended with Albion taking home the win with a final total score of 3-0.
Head coach Kristin Slamer-de St. Aubin, alumna ‘07, is working with her returners as well as nine first-years for the 2025 season.
“Opening weekend is really interesting,” Slamer-de St. Aubin said. “You don’t have any film on anyone, so it’s really ‘focus on us’ time.”
The team won on Aug. 29, followed by two more wins on Aug. 30 against Elmhurst and Anderson University. The match against Elmhurst ended with a score of 3-1, followed by a 3-0 win against Anderson.
Despite nursing a shoulder injury for the past couple of weeks, Aliyah Vesper, Royal Oak senior, is optimistic about the upcoming season and returned to the court on Friday for the MIAA/North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) crossover tournament.
“I was really proud of our team, especially in our sideline game,” Vesper said. “The girls came out, were super excited and loud, and it was a great atmosphere for our girls in the court to be playing in.”
Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer started its season with a game against Bluffton University on Aug. 29, followed by a game against the University of Michigan-Dearborn on Aug. 31. Both games ended with wins for Albion, Bluffton ending 8-1 and Michigan-Dearborn 5-0. This marked the first time the team has started a season 2-0 since 2018.
Brooke McNab, Clarkston junior, returned for her third season on the field.
“It was definitely a big confidence boost for us because our first couple of scrimmages of the season didn’t go how we wanted them to,” McNab said. “So when we got the results we wanted on Friday, I feel like it was a really big boost, the energy was crazy.”
Albion’s women’s soccer team started this season off in the right direction, despite not having a large number of goals last season, according to McNab.
Three out of the eight goals scored in the Aug. 29 game were shot by Chloe Salo, Bloomfield Hills first-year, in an impressive collegiate debut.
“I’m super proud of how I went very hard and very aggressive right off the bat,” Salo said. “I’m also very proud that my first shot ever in a collegiate game went in.”
Salo’s first shot was just about a minute and a half in, marking the first goal of the match and paving the way for their two goals later on.
“I’m just striving to make a big difference for my team,” Salo said.
Cross Country
On Aug. 29, both of Albion’s cross-country teams started their season at the Comet Invitational, a 5K race that took place at the University of Olivet.
Out of five teams, men’s placed fifth with a total of 127 points, while women’s placed fifth out of six teams, earning a total of 131 points.
The meet was held on the same course where the MIAA championships will be held in November. Last year, the women’s cross-country team finished seventh at the MIAA championships, and the men’s cross-country team finished sixth.
“We’d like to at least get that,” said Breanna Ferguson, assistant cross country and track and field coach. “As well as shoot for fifth. Two years ago, they finished last, so they’ve come a long way since then.”
Both teams will resume their season on Saturday at the Otterbein Invitational.
“I want them to see that they can achieve big things, even in small groups,” said Ferguson. “There is strength in small numbers.”
What’s Up Next?
“Our fall sports sometimes they don’t get as much time to practice together, so watching them grow over the course of the weeks from August to November is really fun,” Rushton said.
Albion’s football team began its season on Saturday at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, with its first home game Sept. 20.
“Looking forward to hopefully a lot of wins, a lot of Brit wins,” Rushton said.
Bonnie Lord also contributed reporting to this story.
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