By Andrew Korba
The No. 12 Ohio Northern women's soccer team opened their 2012 campaign with a 1-1 tie against Grove CIty (Pa.) Friday afternoon at the ONU Soccer Field.
Both teams stand at 0-0-1 on the young season.
The Polar Bears struck first when sophomore Kristina Klusek took a pass from junior Lauryn Zielinski and rocketed a shot from the top right of the goalie box into the net.
The goal was her first of the season.
Klusek almost gave added another goal in the 51st minute by making a nice move in the right of the goalie box around a defender.
Senior Ellen Grenert had a match-high 10 kills to lead the Ohio Northern volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-12, 25-16 season-opening victory over Wooster Friday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
Senior Kelsie Zumberger dished out 34 assists in her first action in more than two seasons and junior Kristen Davidson and freshman Ellie Gillespie each had nine klills for ONU.
Melissa Morgan and Erica Skillman each had six kills for the Scots (0-1).
Trailing 22-21 in Set 1, junior Julia Fuerst had a kill to tie the match at 22, then Zumberger followed with a kill to put ONU up 23-22.
By Tim Glon
The Ohio Northern football team enters the 2012 season with high hopes of another in a string of outstanding seasons.
ONU faithful hope the Polar Bears can continue a streak of 15 consecutive upper division finishes in the Ohio Athletic Conference and a streak of nine consecutive seasons of being ranked nationally.
Ninth-year head coach Dean Paul welcomes back 14 starters and 44 lettermen from last year's squad that went 6-4 overall and finished fourth in the OAC with a 5-4 record.
Experience will be an asset for ONU with 26 seniors on the squad that have had a hand in 23 victories over the past three seasons.
After winning back-to-back Ohio Athletic Conference Championships the past two years, one could wonder what's left for motivation for the Ohio Northern women's cross country team heading into the 2012 campaign.
How about setting a school record with a third straight league title for starters?
"We have never won three straight OAC titles and that's our goal this year," fourth-year head coach Jason Maus said. "It will be a difficult task, as we lost a big part of last year's team to graduation. But we have a strong nucleus of returners and are very much looking forward to the season."
The men enter the 2012 season seeking their 14th straight winning season and their third Ohio Athletic Conference title in the last five years.
Fourth-year head coach Jason Maus welcomes back 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 102-33 and won the OAC crown.
"Our goal, first and foremost, is to win the Ohio Athletic Conference championship," Maus said. "That is always one of our primary goals. We also want to compete as a team at the NCAA III Championships. The guys already are gunning for a better performance at the NCAA Regionals."
The Ohio Northern volleyball team is excited about the 2012 season.
Ask 22nd-year head coach Kate Witte the theme of this year's squad and it keeps coming back to one word: competition.
Witte and her staff welcome back all six starters, the starting libero and 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 14-16 record and finished fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 5-4 mark.
Add to the mix a talented incoming freshman group and the argument could be made that every position on the court is up for grabs even thought all the starters return.
