Volleyball:  Release Notes

Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week

Liz Schnelle – Ohio Northern University

Sophomore, Middle Blocker, 5-11 (New Bremen, Ohio – New Bremen High School)

September 4-Liz Schnelle, a sophomore middle blocker for No. 15 Ohio Northern, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week after leading the Polar Bears to four wins at last week's 29th Annual Ohio Northern Invitational. In Ohio Northern's first match of the event against Hope (Mich.), Schnelle, the tournament MVP, had 16 kills in 25 attempts and only one error for a .600 hitting percentage. She also had one ace and two digs in the 3-0 win. In the next match against Mt. St. Joseph, she put away 31 kills in 53 attempts with only three errors for a .528 hitting percentage, while adding three total blocks in the 3-2 win. The Polar Bears’ third match of the tournament was against Carnegie Mellon, which was another 3-2 win for Ohio Northern. In that match, Schnelle had 22 kills, a .381 hitting percentage, four digs and five total blocks. She then closed out the tournament hitting .500 on 14 kills, adding one dig and three total blocks in a sweep of Wooster. For the tournament, Schnelle averaged a .492 hitting percentage, 5.19 kills and 0.62 blocks per game in helping her team reach a 4-0 record to start the season. Schnelle is the fifth athlete from Ohio Northern to earn Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week honors, and the first since Jessie Hampson received it on Nov. 3, 2003. The Polar Bears are coached by Kate Witte.

2006 OAC Volleyball Tournament

Ohio Northern Captured  its 15th OAC Volleyball Tournament Title

The number one seed  Ohio Northern volleyball team won its 15th OAC Tournament title with 3-game sweeps over Muskingum (30-24, 31-29, 30-21) on Saturday, November 4.  The Tournament title was the ninth for head coach Kate Witte in her 16 seasons at the helm.

              Senior libero Karlee Kanuckel (Warsaw/River View) led the Polar Bears with 91 digs in the tournament.  Kanuckel has set a new school-record by recording 1,008 digs this season and added to her school-record for career assists, now with 3, 641.  Kanuckel also leads the nation with 8.54 digs per game. Sophomore setter Katie Weininger (Sycamore/Mohawk) had 130 assists last week and now has 1,559 assists on the season. Sophomore middle hitter Liz Schnelle (New Bremen) had a team-high 44 kills last week and had a .268 hitting percentage.  Junior outside hitter Laura Vuyk (Oregon/Toledo Central Catholic) has recorded a double-double in 14 of her last 15 matches.  She has a total of 26 double-doubles on the season. 

              Ohio Northern has qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in school history and for the seventh consecutive season.  The Polar Bears will take on Hope (Mich.) Thursday, November 9 at 1 p.m. in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament hosted by Calvin

              Despite falling in the OAC Tournament Semifinals, Capital’s volleyball team earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, marking its second straight NCAA appearance.  The Crusaders are in the Central Region and have a November  9 first round match up with Coe (Iowa) College.  Last year, Capital earned its first bid into the NCAA Tournament after winning the OAC Tournament.