PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Volleyball announces the arrival of four new players, adding some outstanding talent ahead of what will be an exciting 2026 season.

Joining the team will be first-years Katie Mystkowski (Newcastle, WA / Overlake School), Juniper Schwartzman (Galesburg, IL / Galesburg HS / Grinnell College), Leah Vickery (San Diego, CA / High Tech HS) and Melody Xue (Overland Park, KS / Blue Valley HS).
 
"I am really excited about the four players who we are adding this year," Head Coach Tom Gardner said.  "They bring great experience, athleticism and versatility and fit in well with what we are needing the most to be even more competitive within our conference."
 

Katie Mystkowski
Newcastle, WA / Overlake School
5'8" Setter / Opposite
 
Katie was an intern in the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) High Energy Density Science division. She also served as a Hardware and Sensor Integration intern at Veiss Electronics, and a Web Development intern at NeuralX. She won 5th in region at the Area 4 DECA conference and was a Washington State National Merit Finalist.
 
Coach Gardner commented: "Katie was stellar hands as well as the ability to score as a right side attacker.  I am thrilled that she is joining us."
 


Juniper Schwartzman
Galesburg, IL / Galesburg HS / Grinnell College
5'11" Middle Blocker / Opposite
 
Juniper has done research through two NSF REUs at WashU and Binghamton University (on electric vehicle thermal systems & nanoscale characterization of perovskite solar cells), an NSF IRES with NREL/CU Boulder in Berlin (on inkjet printing of perovskites for solar), and through her school in South Africa and University of Alaska Fairbanks (ectoparasites and permafrost for disease spread). She interned at NASA Headquarters & for the City of Galesburg Engineering Dept. and presented research at 2 conferences. In high school, Juniper won the Iota Sigma Pi Outstanding Young Women in Chemistry Award and was a 4x state qualifier for Academic Challenge Club in math/physics/chemistry.
 
"Juniper is an outstanding athlete and her experience in competing in numerous sports at the college level, will be a great asset to our team," Gardner said.  "I am excited to see what she will do."
 
 
 

Leah Vickery
San Diego, CA / High Tech HS
5'6" Libero
 
Leah competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition for all four years of High School, and ended her senior year by winning the World Championships in Houston, TX.  Beyond her involvement in FRC, she interned for the past two years with Vivid-Hosting, working to enhance the radios used in FIRST Robotics competitions. Leah contributed to the implementation of secure boot and encryption key management systems for the 2026 World Championships. 
 
"Leah is a scrappy defender," Gardner said.  "She plays all-out and gives everything she has to her team.  I am happy that I get to work with her."
 
 


Melody Xue
Overland Park, KS / Blue Valley HS
5'9" Setter / Defensive Specialist
 
Melody conducted biomedical research on aging, sleep, and neurological disease through internships at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center, applying molecular biology and clinical research techniques. These contributions led to co-authorship on a finalist poster presentation at the SOCRA Annual Conference and an abstract accepted by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting.  She was a National Merit Commended Scholar, SOCRA Annual Conference Poster Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, DECA State Champion and International Career Development Conference Competitor, United States Presidential Scholars Program Candidate, Kansas Governor's Scholar, and Mu Alpha Theta Vice President.
 
"Melody sets beautifully and defends her position well," Gardner said.  "We are looking forward to seeing her work with our hitters to make them the best they can be."
 
 
 
"We are returning a very confident group of players who have been working hard to progress as a unit.  I expect us to have greater balance in our offense and a relentlessness on defense," Gardner said.  "Our new players bring some size and are hard workers and I look for them to make an immediate impact ."