Pine-Richland’s Schieder commits to play volleyball at Villanova

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 10, 2018 | 11:45 PM

Once Maddie Schieder saw the campus at Villanova, she said she started to get a feeling she couldn’t shake. She was looking at the place she wanted to spend her college years.

Earlier this month, the Pine-Richland rising senior volleyball player decided to turn that feeling into a commitment and will continue her volleyball career as a Wildcat.

“When I visited in April, and I got to see the campus, you just know when you get that feeling that it’s the right place. That’s the feeling I got when I saw the campus,” Schieder said.

“I met with the coaches, and they’re great and extremely experienced. The campus is amazing but, above all, the education that I’ll be getting out of this school is probably the most important factor.”

Another big selling point was the opportunity to play in the highly competitive Big East.

Last season, the Wildcats went 18-12 and won 11 of 19 Big East games en route to a fourth-place finish in the standings.

The Rams’ star libero also considered Kent State, William & Mary and Providence before ultimately committing to Villanova after participating in one of the school’s summer volleyball camps.

“I was on campus (earlier this month) for a camp, and after the camp, they brought me into the coaches’ office and that’s when everything went down,” Schieder said.

“I’d been talking to the coaches for a few months now, and they told me that they wanted me to come to camp so that they could get a look at me with the players and how I worked in a team. So, after camp, they liked how I played, and that’s when they offered me a position on the team.”

Pine-Richland coach Cassie Pratte knows Schieder’s game as well as anybody, coaching the Rams libero since she was in seventh grade.

According to Pratte, the Wildcats will be receiving a polished, steady performer who, with time, has the potential to develop into a team leader.

“Maddie has made a lot of progress over the years, and I’m really happy for her,” Pratte said.

“She’s very consistent in the back row, and every year she gets more confident and she becomes a leader on the court. Her teammates look to her for reassurance while they’re out there playing. She just has a really good energy on the court, and it’s something that the players around her can feed off of.”

Kevin Lohman is a freelance writer.

Tags: Pine-Richland