Hey, a fabulous alumni match (or alumnae, as we used to write it—but I guess that’s gone the way of actress) on Saturday at five o’clock. Check out this list of great players who are coming back:

Laura [Hageman] Cobb - Cleveland, Ohio (’03)
Krissy Kaminski - Wisconsin Dells, Wisc. (’05)
Stephanie Blackburn - Cincinnati, Ohio (’07)
Whitney Maiden - Nelsonville, Ohio (’08)
Molly Mangan - Claire, Ill (’08)
McKenzie Mauck - Muncie, Ind. (’08)
Ellen Herman - Toledo, Ohio (’09)
Meghan Simons - Lancaster, Ohio (’09)
Jane Sytsma - Madison, Wisc. (’09)
Sarah Petrulis - Westlake, Ohio (’09)
Meryl Bender - Yorktown, Ind. (’10)
Mandy Nichols - Greenwood, Ind. (’10)
Katie Post - Streamwood, Ill. (’11)
Nicole Staverman - Edgewood, Ky. (’11)

Who to root for? Well, everyone. It’s going to be a great match, and the last one until the season starts in late August. C’mon out.

In this one, primarily: passes, digs, dives and blocks, all set to Steve Miller, someone’s favorite band.

This seems to be the history of the modern world: images are taking over from the written word. For now it’s true here on MatchPointOhio, as well.

I’m not exactly stabbing the written word in the back—but who can resist these clips of our team?

The Editors

Think of it as a river of videos. They flow here, they flow there, sometimes the cubic-feet-per-second is low, sometimes it’s a flood. I think we’ll often see a couple of different videos come out of a match. In any case, here’s a second look at the scrimmage we had with Ohio State on the last day of March. Yep, it took that long.

Click the YouTube button on the bottom (after clicking on the triangle in the link) for the best results.

Great to see the team, on the court after only a week of spring practice.

Geoff Carlston came down, and Don Gromala, who also worked with the Bobcats five years ago, and they brought some hard-hitting Buckeyes. They all did some wash drills (you could look it up; I had to, and still don’t follow exactly, but it involved regular play off the serve, plus an immediate follow-up play with a ball designed to be out-of system; got it?), after which the teams played three sets, the first won by OU and the next two by OSU.

We’ll meet up with the Buckeyes more formally on the 14th, when we both play (along with Louisville and Kentucky) at the KIVA (Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy) Tournament in Louisville.

Our new assistant coach was there, Ryan Walthall, a sprightly and cheerful guy. You can catch sight of him in the soon-come video about the scrimmage. Well, fairly soon. Cricket will also have some stills up any day now. Any week? It’s a busy season.

Everyone seems to know what was just gossip to me, so here’s the scoop. Word has it that two players will be leaving the team after the spring season ends. Bailey Karst is going back to Colorado and will play for Denver University. Marah Farage will be playing at Duquesne next year, which looks like it could be a great match.

We’ll miss both players—and on a personal note, Cricket and I will truly miss Marah’s parents, Chris and Gayle, two people we’ve come to enjoy over the last couple of years. Cricket says, “We’ve been blessed to get to know such loving and supportive families.”

Like so many other parents, the Farages have been devoted to the team, and done lots of traveling. And it occurs to me what a great thing it is for the team parents to stay so close to their kids. (And it isn’t just parents, lots of siblings show up at the matches as well—and let’s not forget the grandparents!) Typically, a freshman goes off to college (I did, my son did), and contact becomes far more sporadic than in high school. You can visit your kid in college, but it may feel awkward, and there may be no easy points of connection. Not so with this volleyball team, which is consuming the players’ lives—but which also tends to keep families close. There’s a magic to this team and their great spirit, and perhaps that’s part of the reason.

See you in Louisville, those who can make it.