CLEVELAND, OH – Defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion DePauw has been picked to repeat as the NCAC champion according to balloting of the league's volleyball coaches.
The Tigers, who collected the program's first conference title a season ago, received five of the possible eight first-place votes and 60 points overall in the preseason poll. Ohio Wesleyan collected one first-place vote and 55 points to rank second while Wittenberg garnered the final two first-place votes and 53 points to place third. Denison was ranked fourth with 39 points, while Oberlin was picked fifth tallying 28 points overall. Hiram (27), Kenyon (13) and Wooster (13) rounded out the eight-team field.
Deb Zellers and assistant coach
Sydney Stover, who were named to the 2023 NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year, return four all-conference members from a team that went a perfect 7-0 in NCAC play and finished last season with a 16-13 overall record (.552).
Grace Myers (New Palestine, IN/New Palestine) will return to the floor for her junior campaign after being named the 2023 NCAC Libero of the Year and earning All-NCAC first-team honors. The defensive specialist finished the 2023 season with a league-leading 497 digs and the second-most service aces (0.53/set) and digs (4.73/set). Also returning for DePauw is senior duo
Katie Gansle (Cincinnati, OH/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) and
Olivia Karwin (Menifee, CA/Paloma Valley). Last year, Gansle, an All-NCAC first-team member, ranked among the league's top three performers in kills (2.89/set) and points (3.47/set), while totaling 283 kills, 39 service aces, 223 digs, and 340.5 points across 98 sets. Karwin, an All-NCAC second-team honoree, led the Tigers in assists (464), and ranked second in kills (225), points (289), service aces (41), and digs (263). Additionally, DePauw sophomore
Kaiden Harrington (Ellettsville, IN/Edgewood) will take the court after earning third-team All-NCAC nods in 2023. During her collegiate debut season, the middle hitter totaled 214 kills, 242.5 points, and 41 blocks.
The 2024 volleyball season begins August 30th, with all eight conference teams competing in non-conference action, while the first NCAC matchups will take place on September 28th with Wooster at Hiram, Denison at DePauw, Oberlin at Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan at Wittenberg.
2024 North Coast Athletic Conference
Volleyball Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
School (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
DePauw (5) |
60 |
| 2. |
Ohio Wesleyan (1) |
55 |
| 3. |
Wittenberg (2) |
53 |
| 4. |
Denison |
39 |
| 5. |
Oberlin |
28 |
| 6. |
Hiram |
27 |
| T7. |
Kenyon |
13 |
| T7. |
Wooster |
13 |