Season Preview: Volleyball brings new head coach, plenty of talent into 2023

By Wes Mayberry

| 2023 Volleyball Schedule | 2023 Volleyball Roster |

ADA — Head coach Sophie Windover enters her first season at the helm of the Ohio Northern volleyball team with plenty of talent on the roster.

The 2023 team is led by a pair of two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honorees in juniors Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) and Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.).

Named All-OAC Honorable Mention as a freshman, Wagner was an All-OAC First Team selection last season after finishing with a team-high 338 kills, which ranked fourth in the OAC. Her .290 hitting percentage ranked ninth in the conference, and she tied for second on the team with 63 blocks en route to earning AVCA All-Region 7 Honorable Mention honors.

In 47 career games, Wagner has a .286 hitting percentage with 439 kills and 99 blocks.

Jennings is a two-time All-OAC Second Team selection and a four-time OAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree. She recorded a team-best 486 digs, which ranked fourth in the OAC, and was second on the team in service aces (33) and third in assists (56).

Jennings has 991 digs, 129 assists and 83 aces in 53 career games.

Other top returners include seniors Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh) and Grace Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli), juniors Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.), Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) and Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) and sophomore Caroline Hensley (Loveland/Bishop Fenwick).

Conrad led ONU and ranked fifth in the OAC in assists last season with 786 while adding 199 digs and 51 kills. She has 1,094 assists in 51 career games.

Dahlin ranked second on the team in kills (232) last season and tied for second in blocks (63) and aces (33) while adding 48 digs.

James finished 2022 with a team-best 88 blocks, which ranked second in the OAC, and Ehlinger ranked third on the team with 225 kills. Hensley ranked second on the team with 286 assists last season, and Irmer ranked third in digs with 209.

Seniors Kassie Bowmar (Sunbury/Big Walnut) and Kaidie Carstensen (Raymond/Fairbanks), junior Kendra Ackerman (New Washington/Buckeye Central) and sophomores Elizabeth Barbara (Foothill Ranch, Calif./Trabuco Hills) and Chelsea May (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) round out the returners for the Polar Bears.

Northern has also added nine freshmen to the roster for 2023.

The Polar Bears closed last season with a record of 16-10 and tied for second in the OAC with a 6-3 mark en route to advancing to the quarterfinals of the OAC Tournament. They open their 2023 campaign with a four-game set at the Cedar Point Invitational on Sept. 1-2.