Here are previews of the Ohio Northern University women’s tennis team and softball team.
By Tim Glon
Women’s tennis preview
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's tennis team is hoping to use a balanced approach in its quest for an Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 2021 under 20th-year head coach Scott Wills.
The Polar Bears feature a good blend balance of experience and youth - with three fifth-year seniors and six first or second year players.
"We have good balance and diversity on many fronts including match play experience, talent level, style of play, and athleticism," Wills said. "This provides us with a great deal of flexibility and environment to learn from each other to get better as a team each practice and match."
Leading the list of returners are fifth-year seniors Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda), Jordan Dodson (Worthington) and Mackenzie Wills (Ada).
All three ladies are four-year letterwinners with 339 career victories between them.
Curry is a returning All-Conference honoree and ranks 8th all-time in ONU history with a 131-53 career record. She also ranks sixth all-time in ONU history with a singles mark of 73-20 and is 36-9 overall in OAC play.
Dodson has a career record of 47-20 and is undefeated at No. 5 singles and is 18-5 at No. 6 singles. She is 19-5 all-time in OAC competition.
Wills ranks second all-time in ONU history with 82 singles wins in her four years. She needs just one singles win to tie the school record of 83 set by Meghan Letizia from 2012-16. She is also second all-time with a career record of 161-48 and is 5th all-time 79-30 mark in doubles matches.
Wills boasts a 40-8 overall record in OAC action.
Junior Ola Latala (Grosse Isle, Mich.) returns to the Polar Bears squad after going 39-9 as a freshman in 2016-17.
Three sophomores also return after solid freshman campaigns in 2019-20.
Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) went 24-7, Flo Sanchez (West Chester/Lakota West) was 10-4 and Jeorgia Templin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) was 25-7.
Incoming freshmen Olivia Kesner (Lima/Central Catholic) and Mykaela Schriber (Kenton) will also be key contributors and battle for spots in the starting lineup.
"The ladies have been working hard on the court and in the classroom," Wills said. "We are just so grateful to be playing again and we are looking forward to the challenge of competing for an OAC title."
With a career record of 381-102 (OAC record of 141-16), Wills is the all time wins leader in Ohio college women's tennis history, which includes all NCAA Division I, II, III programs and was recently recognized by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as one of the top 10 all-time winning women's tennis coaches in the nation.
The Polar Bears will play a round-robin league schedule against the other eight schools that sponsor women's tennis to determine the OAC Regular Season Champion.
Since the league is not allowing non-conference play in the regular season, OAC schools have been permitted to schedule additional match play among member schools. With this provision, ONU has scheduled additional competition with Marietta, Otterbein and Mount Union that will not count in the OAC standings.
The OAC Tournament will be a four-team affair held in its traditional setting at the Lindner Tennis Center, home of the Western and Southern Open, in Mason May 7-8.
Softball preview
ADA — Fifth-year head coach Jackie Price is excited about the upcoming 2021 season.
Her 2020 squad won its last four games and posted a 7-3 record against strong competition during its spring break trip to Clermont, Fla.
After back-to-back second place finishes, Price was encouraged that her Polar Bear squad would break through for the program's first Ohio Athletic Conference title since 2014 last year.
But the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season on March 12.
Unlike most other teams that will never know how 2020 would have played out, Price may get somewhat of an indication as 16 letterwinners, eight starters and her top two pitchers return in 2021.
Fifth-year seniors Gabby Stewart (Union, Ky./St. Henry), Brady Guest (Convoy/Crestview) and Alicia Swierz(Deerfield/Southeast) all return after the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
"We have a great group of seniors that all chose to come back for a fifth year," Price said. "They have been great leaders and give us an outstanding chance of being successful. We have a great deal of depth and a good group of incoming freshmen. We are very excited about the 2021 season."
Here is a breakdown of the 2021 Ohio Northern softball team, by position group:
Outfield
Swierz is a three-year starter in a loaded outfield and will likely hold down the center field spot this year.
A career .303 hitter, Swierz is a three-time Academic All-OAC honoree and was named All-Conference as a junior in 2019. She needs only eight hits to become the 40th member of ONU's 100-Hit Club.
Junior Rachel Hish (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) is a two-year starter and earned First Team All-OAC honors after hitting .403 as a freshman. She is also an Academic All-OAC honoree.
Senior Abby Davis (New Palestine, Ind.) started seven games a year ago, playing all three outfield positions, after playing two seasons at the University of Dayton.
Junior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) is also a returning All-Conference and Academic All-Conference returner in the outfield and is a .317 hitter in 48 career games and also fills in at catcher when needed.
Junior Amanda Hish (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) and sophomores Ashlie Miller (Clarksville/Clinton-Massie) and Lauren Walls also return as letterwinners capable of playing any of the three positions.
"Our outfield is an extremely talented group," Price said. "We have three returning All-Conference players and a Division I transfer. This group has a great mix of players that are strong on offense and defense. The challenge will be getting all of them on the field."
Catcher
Stewart — a Second Team All-Central Region selection and a First Team All-Conference honoree — is a four-year starter behind the plate.
She is a career .373 hitter in 127 games and hit .393 in 2019 and 2020. She currently ranks 10th on ONU's all-time career hits list with 156 and is seventh with 14 home runs and 112 RBI.
Elliott earned Second Team All-OAC honors in the outfield but also served as Stewart's backup the past two seasons.
Two incoming freshmen also provide depth here.
"With Gabby returning for a fifth year we have one of the nation's top catchers behind the plate," Price said. "We also have depth. This is a strength for us to be sure."
Infield
Guest leads the list of infielders that feature returning starters at three of the four positions.
She is a three-year starter at first base and has played in 100 career games. She is a two-time All-OAC honoree, earning First Team kudos as a sophomore in 2018.
A career .380 hitter, Guest ranks 10th in ONU history with 12 career home runs and is 31st with 109 career base hits.
Junior Lauren Renner (Columbus/Hilliard Bradley) and sophomore Annika Murray (Hilliard/Bradley) return as the starters and shortstop and second base, respectively.
Renner hit .304 in seven games last season after transferring from NCAA Division II Hillsdale (Mich.)
Murray hit .233 but had an impressive .970 fielding percentage at second base while starting all 10 games as a freshman.
The third base position is wide open as junior Hannah Rubel (Swanton/Notre Dame) and sophomores Kaylee Ballou (Upper Arlington) and Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) all return as letterwinners in the infield.
"The infield is also an area where we have a good mix of talent and experience," Price said. "Brady is the leader and calming influence in the infield. We feel very good about Lauren and Annika up the middle even though they didn't get much of a season last year. Third base is up for grabs, but we feel good about the competition there."
Pitcher
Junior Stacey Walters (Sunbury/Big Walnut) and sophomore Allie Bican (Solon) return as the top two pitchers from a year ago.
Walters was 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA and 11 strikeouts.
Bican was 1-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 23 strikeouts and threw a 10-shutout no-hitter in her fourth career start.
Four incoming freshmen will also battle the duo for playing time in the circle.
"We return two pitchers that were solid last year," Price said. "We are excited for them to continue their development while getting pushed by a solid freshman group."
Schedule
The OAC eliminated non-conference contests for 2021 and adopted a 36-game, double round-robin league schedule.
The teams will play a home-and-home series of doubleheaders each Saturday and Sunday from March 13-May 9 with the OAC Tournament slated for May 14-15.
ONU will start its season May 6-7 with a pair of double-headers against Heidelberg that will not count in the league standings to complete its 40-game slate.
