Stephanie Blackburn etched herself into Ohio’s record books during her four seasons in green and white, but now she has traded volleyball’s spandex for doctor’s latex.
Blackburn is in her third year of medical school at Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is completing her third and fourth years of school at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, at which point she will be a doctor of osteopathic medicine. After that, she will complete a residency in a specialty.
“I have wanted to be a dermatologist since high school,” she said. “So my goal now is to be accepted into a dermatology residency.”
Blackburn studied pre-medicine at OU and faced the same challenges as all student athletes. For her, those challenges required using resources such as tutors and study tables to balance the rigors of academic and athletic schedules.
“It got a lot easier as I progressed and started to become more comfortable with the schedule,” Blackburn said. “My main focus in college was volleyball, but I knew that, to be successful in life, I would need to have a competitive major and strong grades.”
When Blackburn arrived at Ohio in 2004, the program did not yet have the name recognition it enjoys now. In the early 2000s, the Bobcats were just beginning to earn their reputation, and Blackburn played a major role in turning them into a MAC dynasty.
But had it not been for familial ties, the in-state prospect likely would have played elsewhere.
“One of the major reasons that I decided to play volleyball at OU was because my sister (Michaele) was a member of the team,” Blackburn said. “I had been looking at a few schools farther away than OU, and when the time came to make my decision, it was very important that my parents be able to come to the matches and that I commit to a program that had potential.”
The Blackburn sisters helped turn that potential into results. From 2003 to 2007, when at least one Blackburn was on the team, Ohio won the Mid-American Conference tournament four times.
Blackburn is the first player in program history to record at least 1,400 kills and 1,600 digs.
She ranks fifth in kills and is second in digs behind her sister Michaele, who is now an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University.
Even with their names all over the record book, Stephanie said the pinnacle of her volleyball career was reaching the Sweet Sixteen in the 2005 NCAA tournament.
“The whole year was memorable. Obviously, sharing that accomplishment with my sister and my family — they literally came to every match — was very important,” Blackburn said. “We were such a close team, and when we beat Ohio State, it was validation that we weren’t just a good team in the MAC. We could beat Big Ten teams.”
The Blackburns left an indelible mark on the program, said then-head coach Geoff Carlston, who left the Bobcats to join the Buckeyes in 2008.
“Stephanie was in charge of (two-time MAC Player of the Year) Ellen Herman, making sure that she made the transition to the collegiate game,” Carlston said.
Carlston added that having both Michaele and Stephanie serve as role models helped pave the way for Herman and other Bobcats such as Sue Jacobi, shaping the program into what it is today.
Carlston brought Blackburn to Ohio State for a season to serve as a volunteer assistant in 2008.
Blackburn could not speak about her future plans but stressed the importance of finishing medical school.
“Right now, my goal is to graduate next year with strong board scores and get accepted into a dermatology residency,” she said. “Residency is four years, and I’m not sure what I’ll want to do at that time.”
nr225008@ohiou.edu
