College Notebook: Pleasant grad leads Otterbein back to NCAA tourney

Many former high school volleyball standouts from the Heart of Ohio are showcasing their talents at the next level.

Chief among them is Pleasant's Carlie Craycraft, who led the Otterbein volleyball team back to the NCAA Tournament in Division III for a third time in her career.

The Cardinals (23-6) won the Ohio Athletic Conference with an 8-1 record and earned the NCAA berth by winning the OAC Tournament at home, beating John Carroll 3-0 for the championship. In the finale, Craycraft handed out 44 assists with 11 digs, plus she broke the school's all-time assist mark of 4,179.

This season the 5-7 senior setter averaged 9.5 assists per set, accumulating 955 with just 13 errors. She also had 225 digs.

An All-American last year, she was named first-team All-OAC to become a four-time all-league selection.

In the NCAA Tournament opener at Calvin College in Michigan on Thursday, the Cardinals fell in a tough 3-2 match to Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Craycraft produced 50 assists in the match to finish with 4,255 for her career, the eighth-most in OAC history and the most by a setter in the league in 13 years.

She wasn't alone on the hardwood. Several former volleyball stars have enjoying success in college.

∎ North Union grad Journey Blevins has emerged as one of the best hitters, not only in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference for Findlay, but in the country in Division II volleyball. She's earned five straight G-MAC Player of the Week honors and eight for her young career.

The 5-11 sophomore outside hitter has 484 kills for an average of 4.61 per set and a .242 hitting percentage. Her kills rank her No. 1 in the G-MAC and in the top 10 nationally in Division II. She adds 216 digs, 47 blocks and 516.5 points scored. Findlay is 18-13 overall and 14-4 in the league.

∎ Highland's Makenna Belcher is a 5-9 sophomore outside hitter for Ashland and a big reason the Eagles are 23-7 overall and 16-1 in the G-MAC. She recorded a season-high 18 kills and 21 points in a win over Trevecca Nazarene, 16 digs against Tiffin, four aces against Bentley and four blocks against Malone.

Belcher is second on the team in points and kills with 363.5 points and 311 kills and leads in aces with 40. Her 3.39 kills per set ranks seventh in the league, plus she adds 2.76 digs per set.

River Valley grad Bailey Ruth is also a contributor at AU as a 6-foot sophomore middle blocker. She's played in 21 sets this season, scoring 33 points with 27 kills, 11 blocks and 10 digs. She posted seven kills against Salem, eight points against Kentucky Wesleyan, five digs against St. Cloud St. and three blocks against Cedarville.

∎ Raina Terry, a Highland alum and 6-3 junior outside hitter at Illinois, is one of the top performers in the Big Ten this season. She ranks fourth in the conference with 4.13 kills per set and third in points with 4.85 per set and 427 total points.

Her season highs were 24 kills twice, 27.5 points against Penn State, seven aces against Missouri State, 17 digs against Wisconsin and five blocks against Northwestern. She hits .238 at the net and has 52 blocks and 1.51 digs per set.

The Illini are 11-13 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten. Terry put up 15 kills to lead the team in a 3-0 loss at No. 6 Ohio State earlier this season.

∎ Earlham's 5-11 junior middle hitter Olivia Kyrk posted 14 double-figure kill nights en route to 256 for the season and 293 points. Both those numbers rank second on the team for the River Valley grad. Kyrk had a high of 16 kills against Capital and seven blocks and 19.5 points against Thiel. Earlham was 14-16 overall and 6-3 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

∎ Highland's Ashlynn Belcher is a freshman contributor at Old Dominion in the Sun Belt Conference. A 5-9 setter, she had a season-high 22 assists against Louisiana, seven digs against East Carolina and two aces against Marshall. She's posted double digits in assists six times this season as a backup and has tallied 141 so far this season. Old Dominion is 11-14 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

∎ Kendall Stover is another former Scot who is playing well at the next level in NCAA Division II. She is a 5-10 freshman outside hitter at Grand Valley State in Michigan and is second on the team in kills and points. Stover has 312 kills and a 2.57 kills per set average to go with a .214 hitting percentage, 342.5 points and 202 digs. She's reached double figures in kills in eight straight matches and 11 of her last 12. Stover had highs of 19 kills versus Davenport and 23 digs versus Saginaw Valley. Grand Valley State is 18-12 overall and 10-8 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

∎ At Rio Grande, Darcie Walters is a 5-7 junior libero from Highland. In 29 matches, she averages 3.82 digs per set and has served 20 aces. She has received 511 serves and 393 digs and both are tops on the team and in the top 10 in the NAIA River States Conference. Rio Grande is 17-12 overall and 10-7 in the league.

∎ Two area products played on Capital's volleyball team. Freshman Jordyn Hoffman, a 5-8 setter from North Union, contributed in 20 matches and 74 sets, accumulating 291 assists, 136 digs and 22 aces, while junior Alissa Hoffer, a 5-10 outside hitter/right side player from Pleasant, played in 25 matches with 10 starts. Holler scored 218.5 points with 195 kills, 100 digs, 30 blocks and a .088 hitting percentage. Capital was 8-18 overall and winless in the OAC.

Anyone with information on area college athletes are encouraged to reach the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: College Notebook: Pleasant grad leads Otterbein back to NCAA tourney