Melina Woods, Taylor Baxter lead list of 5 All-OAC Volleyball selections; Katie Kuhn named Coach of the Year
By Wes Mayberry
| 2021 All-OAC Volleyball Team (.pdf) |
ADA — Ohio Northern senior Melina Woods (Ada) and freshman Taylor Baxter (Bellevue) have been named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference First Team, joining senior Kiki Carle (Cincinnati/Mother of Mercy) and freshmen Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) and Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) on the 2021 All-Conference Volleyball Team in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.
Woods and Baxter were First Team All-OAC selections and Baxter was also selected as the OAC Freshman of the Year.
Jennings and Carle were Second Team selections, and Wagner rounded out the ONU quintet as an Honorable Mention pick.
Second-year head coach Katie Kuhn also received recognition, earning the OAC Coach of the Year accolade in guiding the Polar Bears to conference regular-season and tournament championships. The team enters the week with a record of 22-5 and a No. 17 national ranking in the AVCA Poll.
Woods, an outside hitter, leads the Polar Bears in kills (293) and is second in hitting percentage (.331), ranking seventh and fourth, respectively, in the OAC in those categories while adding 39 blocks.
An All-OAC Second Team selection as a junior, Woods was an OAC Player of the Week on Sept. 7 and is coming off being named the 2021 OAC Tournament MVP in her second season as a Polar Bear after transferring from Canisius.
She has tallied 480 kills and 83 blocks while hitting .330 in her ONU career.
Baxter, another outside hitter, currently leads the team in blocks (115) and hitting percentage (.342) and is second in kills (277). Those numbers rank first, second and ninth, respectively, in the OAC. Her block total is especially impressive, as it is 32 more than the second-best in the conference and ranks fourth in program history for freshmen.
Baxter was an OAC Player of the Week on Oct. 25 and was selected to the All-OAC Tournament Team.
Jennings, a defensive specialist, has had a standout season in her first year as a Polar Bear, leading the team in digs (483) and service aces (50), which rank fourth and second, respectively, in the OAC.
She ended the regular season with two consecutive OAC Player of the Week accolades on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, and her dig and ace totals both rank fourth in program history for freshmen.
Carle, a setter, leads the team and ranks fourth in the OAC in assists with 739, giving her 1,897 for her career, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.
Carle joined Woods and Baxter as an All-OAC Tournament selection.
Wagner, a right-side hitter, has tallied 92 kills, 34 blocks and a .241 hitting percentage on the season.
As the OAC Tournament champion, the Polar Bears earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
ONU will face No. 7 Colorado College (29-5 overall) in a first-round tournament game at No. 4 Wartburg (Iowa) on Friday.