Bell named Player of the Year, Swisher named Coach of the Year, five ONU athletes named All-OAC in Women's Tennis

Bell named Player of the Year, Swisher named Coach of the Year, five ONU athletes named All-OAC in Women's Tennis
May 14, 2026

By Marissa Myers

| Women's Tennis All-Ohio Athletic Conference Team (.pdf) |

ADA — Ohio Northern senior Jenna Bell (Latrobe, Pa.) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference women's tennis Player of the Year, leading a list of five student-athletes named All-OAC in women's tennis for the 2025-26 season.

Bell and sophomore Lauren Okrainec (Ingersoll, ON, Canada/Ingersoll Collegiate) were First Team selections while seniors Abby Cruser (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) and Jamie Hurst (Granger, Ind./Penn) and freshman Audrey Austin (Perry) earned Second Team honors.

Fourth-year head coach Sean Swisher was named the OAC Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the third season in a row.

Bell is now a four-time First Team All-Conference honoree. She led the team with 20 doubles wins and had a 34-25 overall record on the season.

In her career at Ohio Northern, Bell has a 137-80 overall record. She ranks 10th all-time with her 137 wins.

She was also named ONU's female Clyde Lamb Award winner for 2025-26.

Okrainec is earning First Team All-OAC honors for the second season in a row. She was 24-16 overall this season with a 14-10 singles record and 18-6 doubles mark.

In two years at ONU, Okrainec has a 58-35 overall record.

Cruser is now a four-time All-Conference selection, earning First Team honors as a freshman and sophomore and Second Team honors last season. She led the Polar Bears this season with 38 victories, going a team-best 23-9 in singles and 15-13 in doubles.

Cruser finishes her career at 138-82 overall. She is 5th all-time in ONU history with 79 singles wins and is ninth with 138 overall wins.

Hurst is also a four-time All-OAC honoree, being named First team her freshman and sophomore seasons and Second Team last season. She was second on the team with a 20-10 singles mark and had a 34-22 overall record.

Hurst is 124-67 overall in her career. Her 72 singles wins puts her eighth all-time in ONU history in that category.

Austin had a 24-13 overall record in her first season at Northern, including a 15-9 singles mark and 9-4 doubles record.

The Polar Bears finished the season 18-5 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. They won their third consecutive OAC Tournament Championship and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships.