Sports

Volleyball kicks off new era as 2025 season nears

By: Marc Goldstein
Posted on: Tuesday, August 26, 2025

< < Back to

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A new dawn crests over Ohio Volleyball after an offseason that saw key figures depart and new ones enter the fray. The Bobcats narrowly missed the 2024 MAC Tournament, dropping the tiebreaker to Toledo for the sixth spot in the bracket. During the offseason, Ohio lost two of its best players, as well as its head coach, compounding on the disappointment of the suboptimal ending to the season. 

Ohio enters the season in a drought that now stretches ten seasons without making it to the NCAA Tournament. That desire to make it back to the Big Dance will have to be obtained while surprising some outsiders. Ohio was picked to finish 7th in the MAC Preseason Poll and no players made their way to the Preseason All-MAC Team. 

One of the reasons for a lack of projected belief in the Bobcats likely boils down to what was lost during the offseason. First, head coach Geoff Carlston announced his retirement on May 8, handing the reins of the program over to assistant coach-turned-interim head coach Kenzie Brinkman. Carlston had two stints in Athens, both spanning four seasons. He coached the Bobcats from 2003-07, left for Ohio State then returned to the Bobcats in 2020. The loss of a coach is one that always comes with reverberations and growing pains for the new coach, but Brinkman has long been tabbed as the replacement for Carlston. Brinkman was named a 2024 AVCA Thirty Under 30 recipient as a rising star in the coaching ranks. 

Brinkman will have to flex her coaching muscles early as Ohio lost massive amounts of firepower on the outside. Kam Hunt and Anna Kharchynska will not suit up in an Ohio uniform this season. Hunt transferred to Dayton in the offseason while Kharchynska is listed as a Student Manager on the roster. The pair of outside hitters created a tandem that was hard, at times, for other teams to contain. Hunt and Kharchynska were the top two for Ohio in points and kills last season. Moreover, Elizabeth Hoerlein, fourth in both of the previously-mentioned categories, is also no longer on the team, although Hoerlein simply graduated. 

The shoes that were worn by Hunt and Kharchynska on the outside are now unoccupied. The onus of being the big swinger on the outside will likely fall to Olivia Gardner, Sierra Evans and Oakland transfer Gentry Brown. 

One position where Ohio is rather strong is at libero. The starting libero from last season, Kendall Hickey, returns for another season to provide stability in the middle defensively. Additionally, the Bobcats are deep at setter with Bryn Janke. She started for most of the season as a freshman, teaming up with Kent State transfer Kendall White. The pair both ranked in the top ten in the MAC in assists in 2024. 

During the non-conference slate, Ohio is able to keep itself relatively local. It begins the season with the Bobcat Invitational serving as its home opener. Bucknell, Iowa State and Eastern Illinois will all make the trek to Southeast Ohio for a weekend. With the exception of Iowa State, the teams are all close to the same level in terms of talent and pedigree. Two weeks later, Ohio will have a very difficult trip to Dayton as it will face Ohio State, Wright State and Pitt, who opens the season ranked No. 3 in the country after making the 2024 Final Four. The loaded field will provide a tall task for any team, but it might be hard to envision Ohio returning home with any more than one win. 

In 2025, Ohio only plays nine matches against the six 2024 MAC Tournament teams, who Ohio went 4-6 against last year. That being said, only three of those matches will be played in Athens with the last two against Western Michigan on the final days of the regular season. 

The easiest way for the Bobcats to put themselves in position to make the postseason is to beat the teams projected to be worse than them. The No. 8-13 teams in the MAC Preseason Poll become must-win matches considering how difficult it might be to beat the conference elite on the road. One stretch where the Bobcats must win no less than three matches over a two-week stretch is a four-match home stand against Miami and Eastern Michigan. Both teams were picked to finish below the Bobcats and the matches are at The Convo, making it even more advantageous to the Bobcats in their home gym. 

Right after those four matches, though, Ohio will embark on a harrowing couple of weeks. First, it will travel to face Ball State for a pair of matches before returning to Athens for one match against Kent State. Then, Ohio goes on a long road trip to Central Michigan and Northern Illinois. Regardless of the fact that Ohio will have to face two perennial powers on the road, the strenuous and lengthy road trips make emerging with positive results even more difficult, albeit not impossible.