Season Preview: Volleyball hungry to reach even greater heights in 2022
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — In just her second year as head coach at her alma mater, Katie Kuhn led the Ohio Northern volleyball team to great success in 2021. Kuhn and the Polar Bears are looking to repeat that success in 2022.
"We had some really great experiences last year that we want to build off of, but every team enters with a fresh slate, and our women know they have to come into this season ready to earn everything again," Kuhn said.
Kuhn, who was named the AVCA Region 7 Coach of the Year and Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year last season, boasts a 35-9 career record at ONU and welcomes back 10 letter winners from the 2021 squad that finished 22-6. The Polar Bears were ranked as high as No. 8 in the AVCA weekly polls last season and closed the year at No. 20. That team won the OAC Regular Season championship and OAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before falling in the first round to No. 11 Colorado College.
"Playing in the NCAA Tournament is such an honor and privilege, and we don't take those experiences for granted," Kuhn said. "Leaving that loss last year, we felt like we missed an opportunity, and we want to take advantage of every opportunity this year."
Leading the way for the Polar Bears this year are fifth-year seniors Melina Woods (Ada) and Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli).
Other returning letter winners include senior Lea McFadden (Chillicothe/Paint Valley); juniors Kassie Bowmar (Sunbury/Big Walnut), Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh) and Grace Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli); and sophomores Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan), Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington), Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) and Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry).
Jennings and Wagner are standouts among that group as All-OAC selections from a year ago.
Here is a position-by-position overview of the 2022 Ohio Northern volleyball team.
Defense
The Polar Bears boast a deep stable of defensive specialists with a group led by Hannah Irmer, Jennings and Grace Irmer.
A four-year letter winner, Hannah Irmer has played in 103 matches in her ONU career and sits just outside the top 10 of the program's all-time career digs list with 1,310. She enters the season 98 digs shy of tying Molly Schrader for 10th place on that list. She ranked second on the team last season with 410 digs, which was seventh-best in the OAC. Irmer also has 173 assists and 90 service aces in her career and is a three-time Academic All-OAC honoree and a three-time OAC Player of the Week.
"We're excited to have Hannah back. She will be a veteran leader that the younger players can learn from," Kuhn said. "She will be a very good mentor for Rachel and the other girls at the DS position."
Jennings is coming off a stellar freshman season in which she played in all 28 matches and led the team with 505 digs and 50 aces, which ranked fifth and tied for second, respectively, in the OAC. Those numbers are both fourth-best in program history among freshmen. She was also twice named OAC Player of the Week en route to earning a spot on the All-OAC Second Team.
"Rachel is an amazing young woman, and she has worked hard this summer," Kuhn said. "She'll take on a more vocal leadership position with the team this year."
Grace Irmer also returns and is a two-year letter winner with 35 matches of playing experience. She has 237 digs in her career along with 34 assists and 21 aces.
"Grace had an awesome spring and is looking very strong," Kuhn said. "We are excited to see what she does this fall."
McFadden is entering her third season at ONU after transferring from Capital and has played in 15 matches with four starts. An Academic All-OAC selection last season, she has 61 digs and 11 aces in two seasons as a Polar Bear.
"Lea has experience on the court and is a very positive voice and hard worker," Kuhn said.
Sophomores Kendra Ackerman (New Washington/Buckeye Central) and Julia Coppola (Wantagh, N.Y.) and freshman Elizabeth Barbara (Foothill Ranch, Calif./Trabuco Hills) round out ONU's rotation on defense.
"Kendra has worked really hard on her serve and defensive movements, and Julia is a big energy player for us," Kuhn said.
Middle Hitters
Bowmar and James return as letter winners at the middle hitter position.
Bowmar, a two-year letter winner, was an Academic All-OAC selection last season and finished with 92 kills and ranked fourth on the team with 43 blocks in 19 matches with 14 starts.
James played in 21 matches with 15 starts and tied for fifth on the team with 40 blocks while adding 54 kills.
"Kassie and Lauren are extremely bought-in to what we're doing," Kuhn said. "Kassie is a very vocal player, and her goal is to make a splash and impact on the court. Lauren has gained extreme confidence over the spring and is really coming into her own, and I'm excited to see what she does this season."
Sophomore Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) and freshmen Kate Haglage (Mason) and Chelsea May (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) round out ONU's middle hitters.
"We experimented with different positions for Sonia in the spring, and the middle was the spot where she really shined," Kuhn said. "She is a very explosive athlete with a fast arm swing, and she has an opportunity to make a splash this season."
Outside Hitters
Woods returns to lead the way among ONU's outside hitters for 2022. A two-year letter winner at Northern, she is entering her third season as a Polar Bear after transferring from Canisius.
Woods has racked up the accolades in just two years at ONU. A two-time Academic All-OAC selection, she was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and All-Region 7 First Team honoree last season in addition to earning an OAC Player of the Week nod and being named MVP of the OAC Tournament and to the All-OAC First Team. She was an All-OAC Second Team selection and earned a Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honor as a junior in 2020.
Woods is coming off a senior season in which she led the team with 302 kills, which ranked eighth in the OAC, and was second on the team with a .325 hitting percentage, which ranked fourth in the conference. She also tied for fifth on the team with 40 blocks and tallied 96 digs, 11 assists and seven aces.
Woods has played in 44 matches with 40 starts at ONU and ranks fourth in program history with a .326 career hitting percentage. She enters 2022 with 489 kills, 167 digs, 84 blocks, 19 assists and 16 aces in her career at Northern.
"Melina is such a versatile player. We've pushed her to be able to play six rotations, and she brings such experience on the court," Kuhn said. "She has grown so much, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do this year."
Wagner and Ehlinger are also returning letter winners.
Wagner earned All-OAC Honorable Mention honors as a freshman last season after appearing in 21 matches and amassing 101 kills, 36 blocks and 19 digs. Her kill total ranked fourth on the team, and her .262 hitting percentage was third-best on the team.
"Erin's confidence has really grown, and we're looking to her as an offensive weapon for us on the right side and being a big block in front of the other team's top pin players," Kuhn said.
Ehlinger, meanwhile, was an Academic All-OAC selection last season and enters her junior season with 132 kills, 32 digs and 17 blocks in 23 career matches.
"Ava is a team captain, one of the hardest workers we have and contributes a lot behind the scenes," Kuhn said. "She got better in the spring and definitely has the potential to contribute on the court this year."
Junior Kaidie Carstensen (Raymond/Fairbanks) rounds out the position group.
"Kaidie is one of our most athletic players on the team, and she is really excited about getting to hit," Kuhn said. "She has gained comfort on the pin and has worked hard to improve her skill set."
Setters
At the setter position, Northern will be looking to fill the void left by Kiki Carle, who departed after last season in eighth place in program history with 1,918 career assists.
Conrad is the team's lone returning setter. She played in 26 matches with three starts a year ago and ranked second on the team and 14th in the OAC with 308 assists. She also tallied 119 digs, 15 kills and eight aces.
"Grace got a lot of experience as a freshman last year, and we're looking for her to serve a big leadership role this year," Kuhn said. "She improved immensely in the spring, and I think she'll rise to the occasion."
The Polar Bears also welcome freshman Caroline Hensley (Loveland/Bishop Fenwick) to the position group.
Schedule
The Polar Bears' 2022 regular-season schedule runs from Sept. 2 through Oct. 29 and includes 25 games.
They open the season with games against Centre (Ky.), Houghton (N.Y.) and Denison in the Denison Invitational and will also play in the Berry (Ga.) Invitational and Mt. St. Joseph Invitational in addition to hosting the ONU Invitational.
The Polar Bears' 2022 ONU Invitational slate includes games against DePauw (Ind.) and Earlham (Ind.) on Sept. 16 and against Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Sept. 17. The theme of the Invitational is Celebrating 50 Years of Women in Sport, and the program is inviting alumni and supporters to campus.
Northern opens its Ohio Athletic Conference slate at Mount Union on Oct. 1 and will play road conference games at Otterbein, Capital, John Carroll, Muskingum and Baldwin Wallace.
ONU will host conference foes Heidelberg, Wilmington and Marietta, the last of which is scheduled as a season-ending tri-match with Chicago (Ill.) on Oct. 29.
This year's schedule includes games against five teams that qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament in Otterbein, Wittenberg, Chicago (Ill.), Berry (Ga.) and Christopher Newport (Va.).
"This program has always been known for playing a difficult schedule. We play the best because that's the only way to be the best. I always schedule with that in mind," Kuhn said. "Our non-conference schedule is difficult, but that prepares us for what we're going to face in the OAC, which is going to be a dogfight this year because it's as deep as it's ever been."
The OAC Tournament is set for Nov. 1-5. ONU has won 27 of the 38 OAC regular-season titles since the league began sponsoring volleyball as a championship sport in 1984, and it has 22 conference tournament championships to its name.
The 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship is scheduled for Nov. 17-19 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa.