Intangibles put Schiering on top
Christel Schiering is Ohio soccer. The two are synonymous.
Schiering has set the bar for years to come for a program in just its seventh season. She holds nearly every Ohio game, season and career scoring record. She has started and played in more games in her career than anyone else.
She is third in career goals scored in Mid-American Conference history, and fifth in career points. Her 15 goals last year were the fourth-most ever in one season in the MAC.
But that's enough about statistics. You get the picture.
Numbers in a record book do not convey the presence Schiering has on the field. She's fast. She's creative. The team simply feels more dangerous when she's out there attacking the goal.
At 5-feet1-inch, she certainly does not intimidate with stature, but her right leg will scare any goalkeeper. If a teammate feeds her a rainbow pass in front of the goal, she can kick it as it's falling from a point above her head and fire it at the goal.
I've seen it, and I wouldn't want to block it.
Sure, one could argue that Schiering has had an off year this season. But just about anything is an off year after scoring 15 goals last season.
Sure, coach Stacy Strauss decided to not start Schiering against Buffalo and Central Michigan. But what did she do when she returned to the starting lineup against Eastern Michigan Sunday? She scored Ohio's only goal and sent the game to overtime.
Schering has a talented team behind her that Strauss has built in her four years at Ohio. At the forward position, she finishes attacks and her records represent the performance of the team.
Like I said, Schiering is Ohio soccer.
Hageman drills opponents, records
No other Ohio athlete has made a bigger impact on a team or an Ohio sports program like volleyball's Laura Hageman.
In the last 12 months, Hageman has been named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, MAC East Player of the Week nine times and Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week after two dominating performances against Miami and Ball State this season. And that's just on a national and conference-wide scale.
Hageman stands as Ohio's career leader in assisted blocks with 377 and is only the third player in school history to record at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. The stats obviously set her apart on paper, but unless you know her, it's impossible to gauge her dedication to the program.
Before home matches, new fans can be heard asking, Which one is Laura Hageman? As soon as the match starts, it's obvious who the team leader and go-to player is. Hageman's teammates look to her for reassurance, motivation and the ability to crush opponents' spirit with wickedly hard-hit kills.
Her best attribute, however, does not come during a game -
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Joe Rominiecki and Laurie Duffy
