Don't look now, but there is a national powerhouse growing here in Athens, Ohio. And no, I'm not talking about the way I've stepped up my workout program. (I got to tell ya, going to Ping three times a quarter is really starting to give me the results I want.) I'm talking about the Ohio volleyball team and its 8-2 record.
Last year, the team won the Mid-American Conference and found itself listed as high as 30 in the national rankings. It was, far and away, the best season the program had ever put together.
So then they lost their seniors -including Laura Hageman, the two-time MAC Player of the Year -and now they're even better. That's right, they're better than the best they've ever been. Try saying that six times fast.
They've already upset then-No. 18 Pepperdine and just this week freshman outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn was named the MAC Player of the Week, joining setter Briana Adamovsky on the list of Bobcats to win this honor so far this season. This sort of recognition already has them listed at No. 32, and they are only building on that.
Now those of you who've been reading my columns (which is you if you've made it this far; ha, now you can't deny it) know that I'm not easily impressed. But this volleyball team is the real deal. I've been watching them for four years now -and it's not just because I have a crush on half the team -and they've stepped it up a notch every year.
Last year, it was Hageman who rewrote the record book, and this year it's Adamovsky. She already owns the record for assists per game (9.96 per game) and she is quickly climbing the list for all-time assists. She has the potential to leave Ohio with more records than the Beastie Boys, and I can tell you, she's cooler than the Sabotage video (and that was a cool video. Do you remember all the fake mustaches? Fake mustaches are sweet).
But it's more than a few players making a personal onslaught on the record books that has created such a powerhouse. It's a feeling that this team gives you. When I first started going to matches my freshman year I could see they were loaded with young talent that wasn't quite sure what to make of itself. Since then, it has all come into perfect fruition. The team now carries itself with a vicious disposition.
They know they can beat you; it's really just a question of how many games it will take.
And this disposition doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Second-year coach Geoff Carlston added to his already deep talent pool by bringing in freshmen like Stephanie Blackburn, who have had an immediate effect. Add in superstars-in-the-waiting like Julia Winkfield and Michaele Blackburn and you have yourself the most dominant team in the MAC for many years to come.
So this weekend, may I suggest that you stop by and watch our most successful program stomp all over Ball State and those jerks from Miami. I know I'll be there on Saturday (I'm telling my mother it's a date).
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Mike Cottrill
