2021-2022 OCU Season in Review

By Press release submission

Aug 3, 2022

In May, a historic season for the Mighty Oaks Athletics came to its closure. A season that ended with 14 teams competed for a shot at a River States Conference championship, three teams competed in the conference tournament finals, (Women's Tennis, Men's Tennis, Men's Soccer), with one Conference Champion (Men's Tennis). At the national level, all teams competed in the NCCAA Mideast Regional or national tournament, and two teams competed for a National Championship (Women's Basketball, Women's Tennis). The Men's Tennis team competed at the NAIA Tournament for the first time in school history. Let's look back at all sports and their success in the 2021-2022 season.

Women's Volleyball took their 2020 record of 0-15 and turned it into a 12-17 record, recording their most wins since 2018. Head Coach, Larry Hinshaw, completely flipped the script with his first full recruiting class taking place. The volleyball team had their biggest win of the year over Midway University, beating them in Lexington, Kentucky, 3-1. Team leaders were, Chloee Thomas in kills with 211, Mariana Anastasiadi in assists with 420, Thomas in blocks with 64, Juliana Sandoval in digs with 380, and Anatasiadi with 21 service aces. The volleyball season came to an end with a loss to Campbellsville University in the Mideast regional final.

Women's soccer had their best record in school history finishing at 9-11-1. The Lady Oaks soccer team responded from their 3-10 season a year ago to fulfill qualification for the Conference tournament as well as the NCCAA National tournament. The Lady Oaks had their biggest victory this season over Bob Jones University at the NCCAA National Tournament, a game winning goal was scored in the final seconds of the game. Leading the Lady Oaks in all offensive categories was Freshman Claudia Melgar with 13 goals and 7 assists to lead the team with 33 points. Annabelle Lansdale led the team in goals allowed with 41, while Jillian Beem lead in saves with 45. The Lady Oaks Soccer team ended their season with a win against Bob Jones University at the NCCAA National Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida.

Men's Soccer also had their best record in school history by having 13 wins and finishing their season at 13-9-1. Mighty Oaks Soccer made their way to back-to-back conference finals appearances before falling again to the University of Rio Grande. Leading the way for the Mighty Oaks was freshman Jorge Tallada with 11 goals while also racking up 26 points. Francisco Sousa lead the team with 8 assists. A combination of keepers lead the way for the Oaks, both with 45 saves. The best win for the Mighty Oaks Soccer team was against the University of Southern Indiana with a 2-0 victory in Evansville. The Oaks season ended with a 0-2 loss against Grace College at the NCCAA National Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida.

The Cross-Country and Track and Field teams, led by coach Audrey Sparks, continued their recent success in the Fall. Here is what Coach Sparks had to say about both teams. "Last season, women's track competed in their first track conference. We made many strides as team but a few moments that stuck out were Raegan Heldt getting 2rd place at Conference. To see her up on the podium representing OCU was incredible. Another exciting moment was the early achievement our first outdoor meet. Evie Hasenour qualified for NCCAAS in the women's 5k. That was her first 5k in outdoor track and field and she blew her previous PR out of the water. Lastly, another great achievement on the women's side was Halley Powers getting named the RSC Bill Melton Champion of Character for 2022. This progress is just the beginning of what the Women's team is capable of achieving during the upcoming cross country and track season.

Last season of Men's Cross Country stood out to me in the fact that the boys barely qualified for the NCCAA National tournament. We knew, going into this season that it was going to be close but weren't 100% sure. We are so glad they qualified but have high expectations that this coming season won't be so close to the wire. The boys have a lot of talent and potential, if they get their head in the zone and can stay in that zone all season, they can be quite competitive and even improve from their conference finish last year."

With her first season completely out of the way, Coach Fahkara Hawkins and the Lady Oaks surpassed all expectations. The Lady Oaks Women's Basketball was a NCCAA National Runner up after winning the NCCAA Mideast Regional title. The Lady Oaks finished the season at 19-13, an improvement from the 20-21 season of 8-15. The Lady Oaks qualified for, and hosted, the first round of the River States Conference tournament before falling to the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears. After winning the NCCAA Mideast Regional, the Lady Oaks advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament, they defeated University of Northwestern and Roberts Wesleyan College to reach the National Championship. In the title game, the Oaks dug themselves out of an early deficit, but came up short, falling to Southwestern Christian University by six points. Leading the way for the Oaks on the offensive side this season was Taylor Dillard with 459 points on 41% shooting and 137 assists. Jalaya Dowell led the way defensively for the Oaks grabbing the most boards and blocking the most shots totaling 197 rebounds and 38 blocks. Sophomore Emilee Hope continued to shine with her three point percentage by shooting 46% from three-point land. Coach Hawkins was named the NCCAA Women's Basketball Coach of the year for 2021-2022.

Under the guidance of Coach Ken French for the first season, the Mighty Oaks Men's Basketball team got back on track. A 13-19 record was the call for the Mighty Oaks this year. Their biggest win came at home against the Nationally receiving votes Alice Lloyd College Eagles. The Mighty Oaks qualified for the Conference tournament for the first time in school history. The season came to an end with a loss in the NCCAA Mideast Regional tournament to Asbury University. Leading the way for the Oaks was Nathaniel Schmittler with 306 points and 155 rebounds. He was followed by Jamarcus Clark with 300 points and DJ Redding with 150 rebounds, while also dealing out a leading 73 assists. Schmittler led the Oaks in FG% shooting 55% from the field. Freshman, Julio Lopez led the Oaks from 3-point land shooting 35%.

The Men's and Women's Golf teams, under new head coach Nick Virden, had a strong season to be proud of. The Men's team competed well at the conference tournament, jumping up a couple spots from last year. With the new additions to the team, the Men's golf team hit some lower scores at many tournaments. Junior Nate Neal qualified as an individual for the NCCAA National Tournament finishing tied for 22nd place in the nation. The Men's Golf team shot their best round, 300, in the first round of the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raider Invitational. The Women's Golf team claimed another NCCAA Mideast Regional title and secured their NCCAA National tournament bid. The Lady Oaks Golf team, led by Hallie Hinton, placed third in the country at Hammock Beach Resort's Ocean Course in Palm Coast, Florida. Hinton and Haylee Exline became OCU Women's Golf's first ever All-Americans, finishing in the top 10 individually in the strong field at the national championship.

Starting off the spring season, the Women's Tennis team carried an undefeated record from the fall season. The Lady Oaks Tennis team went 5-0 to start before falling to Georgetown College in their first match of the spring. The Lady Oaks received votes at the NAIA National Level for the first time in school history. They were receiving votes for the first four weeks in the season. The Lady Oaks went on to finish second in the conference regular season. After receiving the bye in the first round of the conference tournament, they took on the Cougars of IU-Kokomo. After defeating the Cougars, the Oaks advanced to the Conference Championship to face IU-East. In a close match, the Lady Oaks fell 3-4. The Lady Oaks swept the conference awards with Liz Aristizabal winning Newcomer of the Year and Player of the year. Coach Colin Dixon was also voted RSC Women's tennis Coach of the Year. The season didn't end there as the Lady Oaks advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament in Mobile, Alabama. In the pool play rounds the Oaks went 1-1 and advanced to the National Championship. They ended up falling to a very tough Campbellsville University, ending the most successful season in Lady Oaks Tennis history.

The Men's tennis team looked to build off last year's success and they did. For the first time ever in school history, the Men's Tennis team claimed the River States Conference Championship. The Men's tennis team claimed a 10-10 record while going 4-1 in conference play. The Mighty Oaks Tennis team defeated the IU-East Red Wolves for the conference championship after dropping the first set on 5 of the 6 courts. After winning the conference championship it was off to the NCCAA National tournament in which the Mighty Oaks went 1-2 in pool play and just missed the championship by losing 3-4 to Judson University. The next week, the Men competed in the NAIA National tournament, seeded 24, they were set to face off with University of Northwestern Ohio, the number nine seed. The Mighty Oaks won at 3 doubles and then lost at 1 doubles. At the time, they were down 0-5 at 2 doubles. The Doubles team of Teodor Zlatar and Carlos Hernandez were able to win seven straight games to claim the doubles point. Kaleb Knepp then took line 6 singles to go up 2-0 on the day against the number 9 team in the country. The match ended at 2-4 and the Mighty Oaks historic season came to an end. Andre Baltazar was named the River States Conference Player of the Year as well as named First Team All-Conference and second team NCCAA All-American. He was joined on the First Team-All Conference by Gustavo Marangoni.

The Mighty Oaks Softball team continued their long-term success under Coaches Patti Buchta, Ryan Schuler, and Brian Modafari. The softball team went 20-28, an improvement of three wins from the year before. The Lady Oaks missed the conference tournament by just one game, but that didn't slow them down at the NCCAA Mideast Regional. Winning their second straight Mideast Regional title, the Lady Oaks Softball team advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament. Leading the team for the Oaks was McKendree Ward with 65 hits and 43 RBI. Leading the pitchers was Emily Fitzwater with 66 strikeouts followed by Kenize Tooley with 38.

In the final sport, the Baseball team improved their season under second year coach Andy Lasher. With new players in place, the Mighty Oaks Baseball team was set and ready for action. The guys improved on their 17-27 record to 31-23 this year and qualified for the conference tournament for the first time. The 31 win season set a new standard for the Oaks as the most wins In team history. Leading the Oaks this season was Chandler Dunn with 64 hits followed by Noah Baugher with 62. On the mound for the Oaks, Gerhig Tenhumburg lead the team in Strike outs with 74 followed by Justin Hallum with 60. At the conclusion of the season, senior Chandler Dunn signed a contract to play professional ball with the Evansville Otters. The Mighty Oaks qualified for both the Conference Tournament as well as the NCCAA Mideast Regional before falling to Asbury in the final.

Wrapping things up, Athletic Director, T-Ray Fletcher had to say, ""As the Athletic Director at Oakland City University, I could not be more proud of the accomplishments of all the programs in our department. They not only succeeded in competition but in the classroom. We had over 150 student athletes with over a 3.0 GPA. Success in competition is great, and we want to compete at a National level, but also want to represent OCU with pride and dignity and we have done that all year. With our new additions of sports to come and capital improvements to facilities in our department, we hope to be the standard that other institutions look to at the small college level. The future is bright!"