KUTZTOWN, Pa. – This Saturday is Family Day at Kutztown University and there are a couple of family ties on different fall teams for KU.
 
The top-ranked and national runner-up field hockey team has a trio of sisters running around Andre Reed Stadium as freshmen Jade Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) and Julia Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) joined older sister and 2023 national champion in junior Jessica Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen). Inside Keystone Arena, the women's volleyball team features a pair of six-foot-plus middle hitters in sophomore Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) and freshman Ellie White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown).
 
Each of the two families and five sisters have different stories as to how and why they ended up at Kutztown and as to when they started competing in their respective sports. But even with all of the different personalities and stories this quintet provides, there is one common factor between them, comfortability around family.
 
The two older siblings in their respective families, Jessica and Grace, have been valuable sources of information and solace, familiar faces in an unfamiliar area for their freshmen sisters.
 
"I was actually kind of surprised when they (Jade and Julia) committed, because I didn't know if they would stay together," said Jessica. "They kept a lot of it to themselves, but I was open to them coming here because I knew they'd be fits in our program. I was really excited when they committed because it just gives me the comfort of home and I'm able to give them that as well."
 
Grace and Ellie began playing volleyball in high school and went into the sport together, playing one year apart.
 
"It's been really nice having her on campus," said Grace. "Having your sister come here with me is great. We started playing volleyball together and to be able to end our careers together, hopefully, is awesome. Ellie is very witty. It could be the most serious situation – match point – and everyone is tense, but Ellie has a smile on her face, and she is stress free. I love that about her."
 
For the oldest Traynor, her first two-plus years on campus couldn't have gone much better. An easy selling point to her sisters looking at potential suitors after high school.
 
"Kutztown and KU Field Hockey are great at separating our academic and athletic responsibilities," Jessica said. "We can get great academics and be taught by amazing professors that set us up for life, and then we can also excel at the highest level athletically. I wanted the best of both worlds and I told them they would get that here."
 
The Traynor twins have been appreciative of having Jessica around, but also for the KUFH program altogether.
 
"Going from high school to college this first year can be challenging, but having Jessica here has made it all the better," said Julia. "We have a great relationship and she has been so helpful to me."
 
"The last two months or so have been great," said Jade. "Being away from home was tough at first, but I was comforted and welcomed by my team from the first day on. Everyone and everything around campus has been great to be a part of."
 
Like most other freshman entering college, Ellie has had to juggle many new responsibilities, while also trying to meet different people and make new friends.
 
"It's been really nice," Ellie said during her first semester on campus. "It really has been a family-type atmosphere. Since the first week of preseason, we really only saw each other at practice and what not. I've been trying to find my friend group and get my bearings around campus. But anytime I need her, Grace is always there."
 
That goes to show just the type of person that Grace is to everyone around her, always with a smile on her face.
 
"Grace is very compassionate and is always there for anybody," said Ellie. "She is always there to listen to you and help in any way she can. After high school, I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep playing volleyball, but when the opportunity arose to go to Kutztown and continue to play with Grace, I couldn't pass that up."
 
Julia was the last of the twins to commit to a college, and she actually had serious thoughts about taking her talents to another school in the PSAC.
 
"The last clinic that I went to here really changed my mind and made me want to commit to Kutztown," Julia said. "The team was very welcoming and the environment around them and the campus was nice. Before that, I was really close to going to East Stroudsburg. I was on the side of I'd be ok if Jade and I went our separate ways, but at the end of the day, I couldn't imagine playing against her."
 
Having two teammates from the same family on a college team doesn't happen often. There are always sibling rivalries and those that want to create their own path, but the three Traynors couldn't be in a happier place together.
 
"I love it and think it's great," Jade said. "You can see the connections we have on the field from just playing together for so long. It's a lot of fun."
 
So, what's been the difference so far early on in the first year of collegiate volleyball together compared to high school?
 
"It's been a lot more competitive and the will to win is so much higher in college," Grace said. "The student-athletes are really talented all around. But here at Kutztown, it's also one big family, which is funny now with my sister being here, but we all are really one family."
 
Kutztown is home for several thousand students, and for the Traynors and the Whites, it's a decision they feel very comfortable with.
 
"I love that Kutztown is so close to home," said Ellie. "It's also the perfect size for me, coming from a smaller high school, I wanted to be on a small, but unique campus."