There is a very large group of players on Western Michigan University's volleyball team which can't wait for the 2024 season to begin.

For the rest of the Mid-American Conference teams, well, maybe not so much.

Maggie King showed what could be accomplished when she returned in 2023 for her COVID eligibility season and proceeded to help the Broncos to a 31-3 overall record, MAC regular season and tournament titles and an upset sweep over No. 7 seed Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Five players will be striving to do that – and more – when they return in 2024.

Coming back for their fifth year are setter Logan Case, libero Andelyn Simkins and outside hitters Keona Salesman, Anna Calcagno and Abi Wilcoxson. They will join seniors Madison Merz and Julia Marr to make a very, very large Senior Night contingent next November.

"This group of five had a conversation with us early on about returning for their fifth season," WMU head coach Colleen Munson said. "A couple of them (Case and Simkins) told us in their freshman year they wanted to play as long as they could so plan on it.

"There is a misunderstanding in the public that we have extra scholarships, but actually that happened for just one season because of COVID. A coach has to build their recruiting strategy on if players will be coming back."

The large group joins sophomore defensive specialist Reeghan Boyer, sophomore setter Maddie Kmetz and sophomore middles Mary Clare Brusek and Amanda Glanton. WMU didn't have a freshman on the team this season. They will in 2024 with outside hitters Elana Erickson, Camille Morrison and Annalise Patchett; setter Leah Richmond and libero Carley Piercefield set to join the program after signing last month.

The new players will quickly learn what everyone else on the team already knows.

"After the loss to Louisville in the NCAA tournament, we had a couple of days to process it, then talked about how our ceiling is now our floor," Munson, the MAC and AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, said. "The expectations are higher.

"Now, that is the starting point and we go up from there. The expectation is to work through spring drills on our skills and our system, then get into the pre-conference schedule, where we can play a higher level of teams who want to play us because of our higher RPI (strength of schedule) rating. Then we'll get into our conference, which is very competitive, and we've brought attention to the MAC and everyone can reap the rewards of that."

The five who will return had a season to remember. Case was both the Player of the Year and Setter of the Year in the MAC, along with being second in the nation in assists per set. Simkins was the league's Defensive Player of the Year, Calcagno, Brusek and Salesman were All-MAC Second Team selections and Wilcoxson can serve with the best of them in the MAC, tallying three aces against Bowling Green in the five-set MAC Championship thriller and following that up with two more aces against Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"Personally, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity because not everyone gets the opportunity to come back for another year," Wilcoxson said. "I had a feeling that if I didn't come back, I would regret it."

Like everyone else, she is going to take advantage of the extra season both on and off the court.

"I'll graduate with my bachelor's degree in 2024 and then hopefully my master's will be done in the spring of 2025," Wilcoxson said. "My degree will be in Workforce Education and Development and eventually I'd like to be an athletic director."

She's currently doing an internship at Portage Central High School, working with athletic director Joe Wallace.

Next season, she will be working on her serve as well as her outside hitting. While she had five aces in those two crucial matches, Wilcoxson only had one service error.

"I've worked on my serve with Ryan (senior associate head coach Ryan Manning) to get my float serve down and to be more consistent," she said. "I really try to focus on being aggressive and staying calm.

"When the serve drops in, thank goodness, first of all. It's just so nice because that's an easy point for the team."

"Abi is a good athlete who has really become a great teammate, saying 'What do you need me to do? How do I get on the court?'" Munson said. "She has the opportunity to play on the right side, outside, play back row and she has a lethal serve, so she contributes to us on a daily basis.

"This group coming back knows what it was like to be a freshman, what it was like to be a COVID group, and that was tough. They know the importance of connecting, team dinners, spending time with the whole team both inside and outside the locker room. What it means to come on the court every day to put your best foot forward, turn the failures into successes."

There have been a lot successes, probably dating back to the 2021 season. WMU hasn't been swept in three sets in a regular season game since Oct. 23, 2021…a total of 69 games.

"After the loss to Louisville, we know we have an opportunity to do this next year (make the NCAA Tournament)," Wilcoxson said. "Like Reeghan (Boyer) mentioned, 'Remember this feeling. Remember we could have beaten this team. Know we can come back next season and do it.'"

The 2024 season can't start soon enough.