Squad preview
Ohio’s 2024 volleyball season is upon us after the team’s first practice game was completed. The Bobcats have big shoes to fill on the court in 2024 after losing some of their top scoring players, but Ohio is entering the season with high expectations.
Despite a disappointing end to last season, Ohio showcased its individual talent in players who have since left the team. The Bobcat player with the most kills, Caitlin O’Farrell, the player with the most assists, Tria McLean, and the player with the most digs and service aces, Sam Steele, all graduated.
The Bobcats will rely on players like Kam Hunt, a sophomore outside hitter with a killer swing who currently has 263 kills in her career. In addition, Anna Kharchynska, Ohio’s tallest player, will continue to guard the net as she is currently the team’s best player with 94 blocks. Ohio also relies on Chariti McKeller, a veteran setter who will lead the team on the court and excel on both offense and defense.
Ohio starts the season strong on offense and combative on out-of-system plays that can be crucial to staying alive and scoring points in games. Despite this, the Bobcats have struggled with serving errors and lost a total of 239 points on serving alone last season.
Ohio coach Geoff Carlston is entering his fourth consecutive season with Ohio Volleyball, having coached the Bobcats for nine years in total. Carlston is looking to return the team to its former glory, as his previous experience with the Bobcats resulted in five consecutive conference victories between 2003 and 2007.
Carlston is no stranger to building a team of powerhouse players based on his past experience. Choosing between a variety of strong offensive players will be a difficult task, but the right decision could lead to a high-scoring season for the Bobcats. Carlston takes the field this year looking to improve on his current career record of 413-217.
There are some new faces on the court this season, with four freshmen replacing the graduates. Ohio will welcome three outside attackers to the team this year, Lexi Grisset, Sierra Evans and Darbi Ricketts. Ricketts is also expected to step in as a defensive specialist, making her a versatile asset on the court this season.
Also joining The Convo for the first time is setter Bryn Janke, who comes to the team with an impressive record of assists, digs and aces at her high school in Wesfield, Wisconsin.
Schedule preview
After a disappointing end to the 2023 season, in which Ohio lost in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament to a Toledo team with a sub-.500 record, Ohio now has a good chance to not only improve but excel in 2024.
Last year’s schedule was a gauntlet. Not only in the MAC (Ohio had to deal with a 31-3 Western Michigan team as well as a Buffalo and Ball State team that tied Ohio’s second-place conference record), but also in the non-conference schedule. Ohio faced a handful of quality opponents, including North Carolina State (22-7) and Iowa State (No. 23).
Ohio’s 2024 season begins at The Convo with the Bobcat Invitational, which Ohio will host for the third consecutive year. This time, Xavier, Appalachian State and Wright State will participate in the invitational.
The Bobcats’ season opener is the third game of the invitational round, where they face the Musketeers on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Ohio will close the invitational round the very next day with games against Appalachian State (1 p.m.) and Wright State (7 p.m.).
Ohio will follow its first invitational with the High Point Tournament on Sept. 6, where it will face High Point and Mercer, before heading west to Los Angeles for the SoCal Cup on Sept. 12. There, Ohio will face Loyola Marymount and Utah State, as well as a battle-tested Southern California team that picked up two wins last season over No. 4 Washington State and No. 15 Arizona State.
Ohio then concludes its invitational tournaments by hosting its second tournament of the season, the Ohio Invitational, which begins on September 20 in Athens with games against Liberty, Oakland and Eastern Kentucky.
From there, MAC play begins on September 27. Ohio will open MAC play with two weekend series at home against Akron and Toledo before facing Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. The Broncos won MAC play last season and will likely be the Bobcats’ biggest challenge in MAC play.
Over the next two weeks, the Bobcats have an away game against Northern Illinois, followed by home games against Ball State and Kent State. Between the games, the 2024 edition of the Battle of the Bricks will take place on October 19 at The Convo. The following weekend, Ohio will play a two-game series in Ypsilanti, Michigan, against Eastern Michigan.
The final stretch of the season for Ohio includes a two-game series against Central Michigan in Athens, a second road game against Kent State, a two-game series against Buffalo to close out Ohio’s home schedule, and finally two games to close out the schedule in Bowling Green.
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