As the Cougars 2024 season gets underway, all eyes turn to Head Coach Olivia Earls and her powerhouse group of fifth year seniors. This year the team is in an ideal position to rectify their shortcoming two years ago in the conference final. The addition of some exciting freshmen paired up with the ironclad foundation and unparalleled experience brought from the fifth years, this year is very promising for the Cougars.

This is super important because Earls, who did not lose any starters, looks at this upcoming season as a great opportunity to take the ODAC by storm. She is going to be heavily relying on the experience of her seniors and fifth years to make a difference in conference play. The knowledge of all the teams in such a high-level conference is so important. 

Not only is it important for this year, but the future of the program as well. The ability to expose the new freshman to such great leadership from fellow teammates will help to continue the success of the program long after this group of fifth years is gone. 

That is seen especially with the accolades the team has been able to rack up as a whole but also individually. Earls was really proud talking about fifth year Erin Gray, the team’s libero.

“Erin Gray has broken every record I have put in front of her,” Earls said. “The fact she was able to break one the first weekend is insane.”

Which goes to show the promising season lying ahead for the Cougars with Erin Gray and the rest of the fifth years at the helm.