ASHLAND – It’s hard to tell if the Ashland volleyball team looks at its conference championship banner inside Arrow Arena with hatred or happiness.
Perhaps it’s a little bit of both; what’s in the past and what’s on the horizon are on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Among all the league-title banners hanging in Ashland’s home gym – both boys and girls sports – volleyball has the fewest years with a championship of any of them (three).
But after one of the most dominant seasons in the history of a program that’s been around for more than a half-century, the Arrows (16-1, 10-0 Ohio Cardinal Conference) are on the doorstep of stitching up some new digits.
“Our No. 1 goal this season is to put numbers on the banner and be OCC champions,” veteran AHS head coach Jenise Vaughn said. “… And it is our goal to finish (league play) undefeated.”
“This year it’s just been a drastic difference; we connected really well right from the start,” 5-foot-9 senior hitter Rylan McFrederick said. “We’re very committed, so it’s almost not an option (to lose an OCC match). We’re all very hardcore on our goals and if we are all on the same page, we can accomplish it.”
Only once in its history has Ashland swept a conference schedule (minimum eight matches), with that achievement coming in 2017 when the squad went 22-2 overall and 12-0 in the OCC.
And with a minimum of six total matches still to play, the Arrows could even reach 20 wins overall for just the third time ever.
But that would be fast-forwarding through a lot of the fun. A good place to start would be Monday at Wooster (11-6, 8-2) – the current second-place OCC squad.
If Ashland wins there, it will lock in a share of the conference crown with three league matches still to play.
When AHS beat the Generals at home Aug. 25 in straight sets, it was the team’s first win over Wooster since 2020. A sweep of the Generals (8-2 in their last 10 matches) would be a glowing accomplishment all by itself.
Since losing their season-opening match against Norwalk (10-6), the Arrows have ripped off 16 consecutive victories – trailing only their 21-0 start in 2017 for the longest winning streak in team history.
Ranked No. 20 in Division III by MaxPreps, they lost just one set in 11 September matches. During its current win streak, Ashland has won 45 of a possible 48 sets.
Sadie Walter, a 5-10 senior and a state-placing hurdler in track who Vaughn said is one of the best athletes to come through AHS, pointed out that she hasn’t been surprised by the dominance.
“It’s been effortless; we all get along, we all get each other’s humor,” Walter said. “It’s just easy to play with each other when you can have fun but also be focused and get the job done.”
She joins McFrederick, senior libero Kenna Chandler and record-breaking junior setter Arienne Vaughn to make up Ashland’s quartet of captains.
The other three seniors – Allison Welch, Abbi Taylor and Kaylee Ketcham – help supply the Arrows with one of the most veteran groups ever to take the floor during coach Vaughn’s 22 seasons leading the program. She said the team’s selflessness is reminiscent of her 18-5 OCC-winning squad from 2020.
“I think we just really feel like a family; we do stuff outside of volleyball,” McFrederick said. “… We stayed in contact even out of season and stayed close and wanted to put in the work to build this connection in our group.”
Add in 5-11 sophomore Makenna Oslie, who already has established herself as one of the most talented hitters in AHS history, and Ashland has a balance and a zest for the game that coach Vaughn said she loves to watch everyday.
“This is just a joyful team,” she said. “Any coach will tell you it’s so nice when the leadership comes from the athletes and it doesn’t have to come from the coaches.
“We do not have to micromanage the locker room, which is such a blessing; our leaders set the tone everyday in practice. They’re reliable, they love each other and they feed off each other.”
Athleticism and dedication
One of the many things that jumps out about the Arrows is … the way they jump. Or better put: the athleticism that seems to be overflowing.
To varying degrees, Walter, McFrederick, Chandler and Vaughn all are considering playing college volleyball. Coach Vaughn also said Oslie already is getting attention from bigger schools while just starting down that path.
The sophomore ranked seventh in hitting percentage (.406) and 13th in kills (226) in all of Ohio in MaxPreps’ most recent totals and Vaughn compared Oslie’s current course toward college to that of former star Karli Shepherd.
The 2021 AHS graduate went on to compile 830 kills and 485 digs as an All-Big South performer at NCAA Division I Winthrop University.
For this year’s Arrows, Chandler and Walter both said a lot of the foundation was formed in the summertime. With much of the roster competing for the Ashland Volleyball Club at that time, the group took a Gold Bracket team title during a University of Findlay tournament and also competed well against an uber-talented field in an event at Baldwin Wallace University.
“I feel like we all are very committed to volleyball,” Chandler said. “Most of us are multi-sport athletes, but we still play club and are committed to that and I think that really showed in the offseason.”
“I think it helped being together and building those connections, especially with the younger players,” added McFrederick of the club season. “I think it’s sometimes difficult to come back after being apart for so long and then connect again.”
Coach Vaughn said the Arrows are athletically deep enough that they could have a different leading hitter every match.
In the OCC’s most recent hitting percentage leaders, Walter (.521), Vaughn (.487) and Oslie (.406) rank Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Oslie leads the league in kills while Walter has 134 and McFrederick totals 131 as a six-rotation talent.
Chandler tops the team charts in digs (183) and, with her 51 aces, is one of more than a couple stellar Arrows toeing the service line.
In fact, Ashland has averaged 5.3 aces per set while featuring six different performers with at least 30 this season.
Oslie (54), Chandler and budding sophomore hitter Kyla O’Brien (50) are the top serving trio in the OCC.
It has seemingly been the starting point for Ashland’s supremacy this year.
“At the beginning of the year, our focus was to cut down on our unforced errors,” Chandler said. “In serving, we really focus in practice on getting a good, aggressive serve that isn’t in the net or out of bounds.
“Just by practicing that, we have really aggressive serves in games that get teams out of system. Even if it’s not an ace, we’re all good servers.”
Then there’s the 5-9 Vaughn, a setter who has helped steer the offense with efficiency and precision.
On Thursday in a 3-0 sweep at Madison, she captured Ashland’s record for career assists, surpassing former record-holder Jenna Hartson (1,776 from 2020-23).
Still just a junior, Vaughn’s got 1,782 at this point, and according to MaxPreps, her 499 assists this season are ninth-most in Ohio.
“I feel like it’s just my hitters; I give them the ball and they put it away,” said Vaughn, who hopes to land an opportunity to become a sand volleyball player at the next level. “Yeah, I try to give them consistent balls that are hittable every single time, but it’s mostly the hitters, and I get incredible passes from everyone. It makes it way easier.
“It can feel like I even have five options (to pass to) … and on the other side, the defense doesn’t know where we’re gonna go with it.”
Another aspect of the team’s talent shows through its devotion to strength.
A number of the Arrows are in a fitness and conditioning class during the school day led by Andy Tabler, the defensive ends coach for the Ashland University football team.
All four captains have been in the class the last two years and they say participation has grown.
“They’ve really committed not only to volleyball and to other sports, but also to preparing their bodies, staying healthy, getting strong, getting fast, being able to jump high,” coach Vaughn said.
An Ashland constant
Quietly in the middle of it all has been the woman with the coach’s whistle.
Vaughn took over the program in 2005, just months after finishing her volleyball-playing career at Ashland University.
In the decades since, she’s become a staple of athletics at AHS – and of volleyball in Ohio. Only a small handful of people have ever been a head coach of any team at Ashland longer than Vaughn’s 22 seasons with Arrow volleyball.
She surpassed her 500th match leading the program late last year and has a 271-248 mark that includes OCC titles in 2017 and 2020.
When this year ends, nine of her last 11 seasons will have finished with a winning record. Vaughn has a 165-89 mark over that stretch (.650 winning percentage).
“I don’t think 22-year-old Jenise would have anticipated this,” she said with a laugh. “You get attached to the kids and you just keep getting classes that you want to come back for. I just love the girls and I love being in the gym with them.”
An Ada High School graduate, Vaughn said there’s been a lot of trust built up within the program through the years. She credited her previous athletes, noting that she currently has former athletes of hers running the Arrow teams at the middle school and elementary levels, with another pair on her high school staff.
Teams like the one this year, which will celebrate Senior Night at home Oct. 8 against Dover, help define the legacy she’s assembled.
With at least a shared OCC title appearing inevitable, the Arrows also have a goal of advancing to a district championship match for the first time since 2015.
“Going into this season, we talked a lot about playing with pressure and playing with a target on our backs and how to handle that mentally and emotionally,” Vaughn said, “and they’ve really handled it with a lot of class and high character.
“This group is more focused on numbers on the banner than they are on individual accolades, and that’s really, really key to our success.”
