Come next week, another Fall Semester will be underway, which means another fall sports season is also on the horizon.
As students have begun to pack and move to Athens for a new year of classes, the fall sports teams have been feverishly pre paring throughout the summer for their upcoming seasons.
Over the past few years, Ohio sports have found success in the Mid-American Conference, and that will likely continue this fall.
Ohio women’s soccer is filled with new faces, as coach Aaron Rodgers is set to begin his first campaign at the helm of the Bobcats, who drew a 0-0 tie in an exhibition match with UNC Greensboro on Aug. 15.
Rodgers and company will begin the season with three games at Chessa Field, begin ning this Friday against Indiana.
Another new head coach set to begin his first season is Ohio hockey coach Jonathan Sheri dan, the first new face at the helm of the Bobcats’ bench in 12 seasons.
Sheridan was an assistant coach last season under for mer coach Dan Morris, who resigned to focus on operations as director of Bird Arena after spending the past 20 seasons as a player and a coach with Ohio.
While a pair of new faces has taken over Ohio programs, oth ers are set to continue their suc cess in their respective sports.
Ohio volleyball captured the MAC regular season title last fall, and with a solid contingent of players returning, the Bob cats will look to make another regular season and MAC Tour nament run this year.
Junior outside hitters Kelly Lamberti and Chelsea Bilger finished first and second in team kills last season, respec tively, as Lamberti was named the MAC Player of the Year and Bilger earned All-MAC First Team honors.
On the gridiron, with the return of redshirt seniors Ty ler Tettleton and Beau Blankenship, the Bobcats are anticipating more success after win ning bowl games in each of the past two years.
The Bobcats will begin their season in the national spotlight on Sept. 1 when they travel to play No. 9 Louisville on ESPN. After defeating Penn State on na tional television to begin the 2012 campaign, the Bobcats are looking for another high-profile victory, though the task will be hard going against the top-10 Cardinals.
The Ohio field hockey team will begin its quest for its fifth MAC Cham pionship in seven years, as coach Neil Macmillan and the rest of the Bobcats will begin their sea son with six consec utive road matches beginning on Aug. 31 at Boston University.
Also set to begin a new sea son this fall is women’s cross country. Juli Accurso, a senior, was named the regional runner of the year in 2012.
As any school year goes, new faces have entered while oth ers have left, but there is prom ise for more success for Ohio sports this fall.
Let the games begin.
Chad Lindskog is a junior studying journalism and sports editor at The Post. Email him your bets and predictions at cl027410@ohiou.edu.
