Volleyball: #23 Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) at Denison Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Sept. 2-3, 2022 – Livingston Gymnasium, Granville, Ohio

| 2022 Season Preview Story |

Invitational Preview: The Ohio Northern volleyball team opens its 2022 schedule with three games in the Big Red Invitational at Denison on Friday and Saturday … Northern will face Centre (Ky.) on Friday at 7 p.m. and will play back-to-back games against Houghton (N.Y.) at 4 p.m. and Denison at 6 p.m. on Saturday … The Polar Bears enter the season ranked No. 23 nationally in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll after finishing last season ranked No. 20 … ONU was ranked as high as No. 8 in the AVCA weekly polls last season and finished the year with a record of 22-6, including 8-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference … The Polar Bears won the OAC Regular Season and OAC Tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2021 … 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 … Head coach Katie Kuhn enters her third year at the helm coming off a 2021 season in which she was named AVCA Region 7 Coach of the Year and OAC Coach of the Year … Northern returns 10 letter winners for 2022 … That group is led by fifth-year seniors Hannah Irmer and Melina Woods and sophomores Rachel Jennings and Erin Wagner … Irmer ranked second on the team last season with 410 digs, which was seventh-best in the OAC … She enters 2022 with 1,310 career digs, which is 98 shy of moving into the top 10 on the program's all-time career digs list … 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 OAC … She earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, All-Region 7 First Team and All-OAC First Team honors last season in addition to being named MVP of the OAC Tournament … Jennings led the team with 505 digs and 50 aces, which ranked fifth and tied for second, respectively, in the OAC last season and was named to the All-OAC Second Team … Wagner earned All-OAC Honorable Mention status in 2021 after amassing 101 kills and 36 blocks … Other returning letter winners include senior Lea McFadden; juniors Kassie Bowmar, Ava Ehlinger and Grace Irmer; and sophomores Grace Conrad and Lauren James … Southern Athletic Association member Centre (Ky.) will enter the Big Red Invitational after opening its season against Spalding (Ky.) on Thursday night … The Colonels finished 17-9 in 2021, posting their biggest win total since 2013 … Top returners for Centre include a two-time All-Conference libero in junior Madi Barron, who tallied a team-best 432 digs last season, and junior Brooke Palmer, who earned All-Conference accolades in 2021 after leading the team in kills with 240 … Empire 8 member Houghton (N.Y.) opens its 2022 season by facing Denison on Friday and Centre (Ky.) on Saturday before playing ONU … The Highlanders finished 7-11 in 2021 … Senior Rebekah Clark returns after leading the team in digs (207) and service aces (34) last season, and sophomore Julie Immel is back after posting a team-best 197 kills in 2021 … Denison opens its 2022 season with a game against Houghton (N.Y.) on Friday before playing Centre (Ky.) and ONU on Saturday in its Big Red Invitational … The Big Red finished 19-7, including 8-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, in 2021 and received votes in the 2022 AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll … Denison was picked as the favorite to win the NCAC this season … Senior Lucy Anderson returns for Denison after earning Third Team All-America honors in 2021 … Other top players for the Big Red include junior Kirby MacKinnon and senior Jenna Corrao, who were both named Second Team All-Conference in 2021.

Returning ONU Statistical Leaders (2021 Stats):

All-Time Series: ONU is 3-0 all-time against Centre (Ky.) … Saturday's match marks the first-ever meeting between ONU and Houghton (N.Y.) … Northern is 24-2 all-time against Denison.

Head Coach Katie Kuhn: Kuhn is in her third season as the head women's volleyball coach at Ohio Northern … She owns a 35-9 career record for a winning percentage of .795 and is 21-4 (.840 winning percentage) in Ohio Athletic Conference games … She was named OAC Coach of the Year and AVCA Region 7 Coach of the Year in 2021 after leading the Polar Bears to OAC Regular Season and Tournament championships.