BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 1, 2023

Jen Flynn Oldenburg

Emily Londot

Rylee Rader

Ohio State Buckeyes

Press Conference

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Just really want to open up and say thanks to the Big Ten for putting on another remarkable media day in year two. We're really setting the standard.

As a coaches' group we often talk about being the best conference and making sure that we're ahead of the game with volleyball, and when you have the support of the Big Ten and the network, really setting the stage and having the attention to detail that they do, we're able to say that we're the best conference for volleyball in the nation.

I'm really excited for these two to be here today and to have this experience, but appreciate everybody in the room right now that's here covering volleyball. I'd say it's about time.

Q. Was there a conversation about the outfits coming into today? Obviously last year had so much buzz.

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Yeah, we just read each other's minds all the time. That's why we're pretty good. No, we had nothing. Did you coordinate?

EMILY LONDOT: No.

RYLEE RADER: Not really.

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: We have simple colors. We're all right.

Q. What's the shirt you're wearing?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: It's Brutus.

Q. You've lost a big class; how do you kind of carry on with what they established but also establish your own culture and own direction and vision for the team this year?

RYLEE RADER: Well, we started off, was it early June we went to Greece and Italy? We got to spend a few weeks before then and just spend time with the new team, get to know each other.

I think the trip has just brought us so close. I've been on a lot of teams before, and I've never been on a team that's bonded this fast before. I'm really excited for this season.

EMILY LONDOT: I think the biggest part of our culture that is helping this team is the fact that everyone is so bought into what we're reaching for. I think all of our goals, everyone wants it just the same.

Q. Coach, in the past few years you've quickly been able to establish a winning culture with your experienced team, but now that a lot of experience, former Buckeye players are scattered throughout the Big Ten conference, how do you continue to build on that success now that those foundational players have become opponents?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Yeah, opponents or not, I think it's the experience that these two have. Our spring season was really solid in terms of bringing new faces along. Our freshman class is really solid, and to Rylee's point, our international trip couldn't come at a better time.

The actual additional days of practice, the competition we had overseas, especially in Italy playing the U-19 team and the Italian B-team. I think that sets us up for success a little bit quicker this season than waiting until next week to see what we have. We know what we have, and we have a jump start on what we need to work on.

Q. Jen, sort of sticking with the transfers, how difficult was that for you when you saw that it was maybe inevitable that there would be a lot of players leaving the program?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Yeah, it's tough, and I think part of it was I didn't expect five seniors to be starters. I said it earlier, it's just kudos to them for working hard and putting themselves in a position to be starters, and then you go through the season understanding what recruits we had coming in and the solid class that we have in 2023, I didn't have room for everybody, and it was very difficult. It was difficult for us, difficult for the team, difficult for the individual players that have moved on.

At the end of the day, you can kind of dwell on that and worry about it and cry all you want, but in the end you've got to get back to work. I'd say this spring we got to work.

These two and our other two captains really set the tone. Sarah Sue Morbitzer and Sydney Taylor, they're setting the tone for what's next and really want to build on the foundation that we just built in these last three years.

And we're excited for this new season and what it can bring, even though we don't have that experience. We have Buckeyes that are really ready to fight and ready to compete and ready to have fun.

Q. Obviously it's a two-way street, but previous coach had sort of opinions about some transfers winding up at Big Ten programs and being opponents to the schools that they used to play at. Do you have any opinions on that?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Yeah, it's weird. Let's be honest. Call it what it is. The COVID thing really changed the world, and in the scheme of athletics, it makes it a little bit different and a little bit weird.

At the end of the day, you have to go out and compete regardless of who's on the other side of the net, and we're really going to focus on who's on our side of the net.

Q. Rylee, you just said that you've never had a team bond so quickly. Can you expound on that? Again, between grade school and high school and club and everything, what was so special about this team?

RYLEE RADER: Yeah, I don't know. I guess just our personalities just meshed so well. Well, we had -- how many players did we have in the spring?

EMILY LONDOT: 13. I don't know.

RYLEE RADER: We did not have many in training in the spring, so I think we were just excited to see some new faces in the gym.

Yeah, I think we were just really quick to just meet everyone, and everyone just got along really well.

Q. Emily, you got a little bit of time at the left pin this spring. What was your experience then, and are you going to make a case to get some more time at the left pin this fall?

EMILY LONDOT: Yeah, it was definitely different than being on the right, but I'm just here to do whatever my team needs, and wherever Coach decides to put me, I'll do my best. The end goal is to win games, and if winning games comes with me being on the left pin, I think that's what we'll do.

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: You also set in eighth grade.

EMILY LONDOT: Fair enough.

Q. Anna Morris may be an unusual recruitment. How did she come on your radar, and what's it been like getting her back in the volleyball gym?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: I think she's a unique case where she emailed probably quite a few schools and sent video out of her training all spring just getting back into volleyball shape. She was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey.

After watching her film and getting on the phone and talking to her a little bit, she just fits our culture. She wants to work hard. She's eager to learn. She's great for our program.

She's a basketball player, so she can hit a slide. That was something that in our gym we need to defend, we need to see, we need to set a little bit more.

I think she just fits us really well, and her personality kind of fit right in. You guys loved her from the beginning. We're excited to have her.

Q. Emily or Rylee, obviously a lot of talk about the freshman players and how it's been kind of an interesting time integrating them into the team and the travels and all of that. Who have been some of the players who have stood out the most to you in terms of their development or work ethic or the way they've fit into the team?

EMILY LONDOT: Mia and Grace Egan, Mia Tuman, they were with us in the spring, and I think within those spring months, they learned so much.

Like from when Mia stepped on the court setting after a couple weeks working with JFO, I think she grew tremendously. And I think Grace, she did just come back from an ACL tear, but even just being in the gym at Ohio State and learning from what we're teaching, I think she grew just from being on the sideline at practices.

RYLEE RADER: Yeah, and then to talk about Ella, Lauren and Kaitlyn Hoffman, I think they've just fit so well into the culture, and they're super bought in, and they're just ready to work hard for us and see what we can do.

Q. I really like to learn about how these schedules come about, and this opening weekend I think it's five losses in conference play between the three teams that you have lined up -- NKU, Bowling Green, ETSU. Was that brought to you from Northern Kentucky? Walk us through how that --

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Pretty simple. Nicole Fawcett is cousins with the head coach of NKU, and they came to us two years ago when they were part of our tournament, so we decided -- Liz reached out and said, Do you want to come down here? Easy trip. Good matches at the start of the season.

That was a no-brainer for us.

Q. Emily and Rylee, we have an opportunity here, given how important NIL has become throughout college athletics over the past year and a half, have you had an opportunity to work with any brand or do any kind of NIL engagement? This is your chance here to shoot your shot. Who would you want to be working with?

RYLEE RADER: Okay, we just talked about this. I think I would work with Amazon. Has everything, could ship me anything for free. I think that would be a pretty good deal.

EMILY LONDOT: We had a team deal with Giant Eagle, and it was so great with them and getting in the community. And I think Giant Eagle is just a great company -- Giant Eagle is a grocery store, kind of like Kroger. I don't know anything outside of Ohio. But Giant Eagle, the grocery store, they're just great to work with, and I think that would be a cool deal.

Q. Have you had a chance to do anything more local, or have most of the opportunities that have been available to the program so far been regional or national in scope?

EMILY LONDOT: I would say probably more local. We did -- we have Cohesion Foundation, we did a deal with them, and we went and played pickleball with JFK -- in honor of Alzheimer's and learning and spreading awareness for Alzheimer's. So that was a really great opportunity locally that we could get our voices out in the community.

Q. Jen, what's the excitement level around the Fury in Columbus, too? Have there been any opportunities to work with them or talk with them about what they're building in Columbus?

JEN FLYNN OLDENBURG: Yeah, I've talked to the Fury quite a bit, both the CEO of PVF, Dave, and the coaching staff. It's an exciting time, I think, for the entire U.S., to have it in Columbus.

I think it adds another layer because our players are going to be able to go see them. Those players are going to probably come and watch us. I think it adds another level of play that people are able to watch. To have that in our own backyard, not only at Ohio State for the younger generation, but now our players have a chance to go play pro but in the same city as where they're playing their collegiate years, I think that's really unique and pretty special.

Q. For the players, what makes Mac Podraza special, and what do you think it'll be like playing against her this season?

RYLEE RADER: I mean, I think she's just able to make some smart plays. She also has a huge block, so that's big as a setter. She's a tall setter so she can get a lot of touches on the block. It's going to be fun playing against her. We've known her, we've known how she sets, so it's going to be a fun, competitive game.

EMILY LONDOT: Yeah, I think she just runs an offense really well and makes smart decisions, and I can't wait to hit against her and be on the other side of the net. I think it'll be a really competitive game, like Rylee said.

Q. I'm going to piggy-back about the transition in the off-season, when you are integrating a new setter and how important that time is together on the court when all you've known is that one player orchestrating this offense?

EMILY LONDOT: Yeah, I think the international trip and this summer during open gyms, I think we've really been trying to connect with our setters as much as we can because we know we need all the touches that we can get because the season comes quick. It'll come in less than three weeks. I don't even know what day it is today.

But yeah, so I think we've really been trying to get those connections with our setters as much as possible.

RYLEE RADER: I would agree. I think we have shared with our setters what our standard is here at Ohio State, and I think they've completely bought into it, and they're holding it not only for themselves but for others, and that's all we could ask for from a setter.