West Geauga outside hitter Ireland Oswick is midway through her senior season but she has plenty of volleyball left in her future after committing to Wooster College over the summer.
The opportunity to play collegiately is a dream come true.
“I knew in eighth grade that I wanted to play volleyball in college, so it was very exciting and relieving to make my choice to continue my education and volleyball career at Wooster College before starting my senior season,” Oswick said. “I wanted to find a small school close to home that had high academics and a strong team culture. Even though it’s a small school, Wooster has a lot to offer and has a beautiful campus with fun traditions. It just felt right.”
Wooster coach Sarah Davis began tracking Oswick during the JO season in January.
Oswick maintained regular contact with Davis throughout the spring and summer and even visited the campus to check out the volleyball program in person.
“She was able to see me play at a couple of tournaments, and we stayed in touch regularly as I made my decision to commit to Wooster,” Oswick said. “I went to watch a practice recently, which was fun. I’m excited to continue building great relationships with the coaches and the team.”
Oswick also considered Hiram, Heidelberg, Penn State-Behrend, and Lock Haven University.
“Hiram was the main second choice and I spoke with the coach there many times before ultimately picking Wooster,” she said.
The campus visit sealed Oswick’s commitment.
“I was very impressed with everything the school had to offer,” she said. “The campus is beautiful. In June, I went for the summer prospect camp and got a chance to meet the team and work with Coach Davis and Assistant Coach Taylor (Mathews). That’s when I knew for sure it was where I wanted to play in college.”
The Generals recruited Oswick to play as an outside hitter and she’s eager to make her mark on the program.
“I will be playing as an outside hitter at Wooster, which is the position I’ve played most of my career,” she said. “I think it will be a smooth transition and I’m excited to contribute to the team.”
Oswick already has been named a Chagrin Valley Conference Player of the Week this season and is among the team leader in several statistical categories.
Once her high school career comes to a close, Oswick will focus on her future at Wooster.
She plans to take advantage of Wooster’s student-designed major option to design her college education around her plans to work in the marketing field.
“Wooster offers students the ability to create student-designed majors, so I plan to pull classes from communications, digital media, economics, and other areas to create a student-designed marketing major tailored towards my interests,” she said. “After college, I would love to work in marketing and eventually might open my own volleyball club.”
