By: Matt Florjancic '07
BEREA, Ohio – Isa Luciano was not about to let a seventh-place finish in the Ohio Athletic Conference and missing out on the OAC Tournament be her final moments representing Baldwin Wallace University on the volleyball court.
Despite being celebrated at the annual Senior Day match in 2022, Luciano decided to take her additional year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic and play one more season for the Yellow Jackets while pursuing a master’s degree in leadership and higher education.
“I came into BW volleyball, and as a freshman, the culture was a lot different,” said Luciano, a middle-hitter for the Yellow Jackets. “I love volleyball. It’s my life, and it has been for a long time, but having a new coach with a new program, she’s given us a lot of life, and I just wasn’t ready to let go of being a volleyball player. Also, it’s the friendships that I’ve made and the possibilities that Coach Kristina Fultz brings to the team.”
During the Senior Day celebration last season, it was announced that Luciano planned on going to Europe after graduating. However, she put that on hold to work at BW helping with new-student orientations.
Also, that decision allowed her to stay in Berea and better prepare for the 2023 season, which set an important example, according to Coach Fultz.
“I was very excited,” Fultz said of Luciano deciding to come back for another season. “When I came in, I kind of had those discussions with the two classes that were still impacted by the COVID year, which was last year’s seniors, Isa, and then, this year’s current seniors.
“She was the only one of the four that was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think I’m planning on taking it, but I’ll just keep you posted.’ After the season ended last year, she came to meet with me and had an unsatisfied taste in her mouth and was like, ‘I want to come back,’ so I was excited to get that news for sure. I think she is making the most of this year.”
Luciano’s final season at Baldwin Wallace is one of her best, as she has played in all 24 matches and is sixth on the team with 106 kills. She is hitting at a team-leading .300 percentage with four service aces, 39 digs and 44 total blocks (16 solo, 28 assists).
Her 144.0 points this season are fifth-most on the team.
“It’s definitely been interesting in a good way,” Luciano said of the 2023 season. “We have a lot of talent on the team, and I just think it’s still being cultivated.
“Playing the Defending National Champion in Juniata is a great example. They’re a great team, and so, we get to see the talent that we have when we play against teams like that. Our pins are getting great kills down the line on some of the really good defenders in the nation, but we’re also noticing our weaknesses, too. I think it’s kind of cultivating our talents and what works for us. I feel like that has been the theme of this year so far.”
To Coach Fultz, Luciano has had a large role in helping develop younger players, including sophomore hitters Gabby Schlecht and Maleia Thurber.
“Aside from just the volleyball stuff, she has been such a good leader these last two years that I’ve had her,” Fultz said. “Even before I arrived at BW, she was very important to the team in that way. She came in a small class as a freshman and got playing time pretty immediately in her career. I think that allowed her to step into a role, especially as she became an upperclassman, just to be looked at as the voice on the team on the floor and off the floor. The off-court stuff is pretty invaluable.
“Even her as a volleyball player, we met to discuss her goals and what she can do to help better the team. Not only has she done that from a leadership perspective, but she’s gotten better every year. If you just keep track of her numbers, she knows what she can do to be better and help make this team that got voted seventh place, not be seventh place and prove people wrong.”
Senior setter Olivia Zawadzki added, “I just think Isa brings a lot of maturity. Being a fifth-year senior, she has a lot of insight. She definitely helps our young middles on the team, and I just think that she brings a type of composure to the team that keeps us steady.”
In addition to developing talent, the 2023 season has been one for building the culture at Baldwin Wallace.
By scheduling matches against and competing with top teams not only in the Ohio Athletic Conference, but also, in the nation, the Yellow Jackets have learned how to raise their level of play in the face of adversity.
Being in those challenging situations has allowed the Yellow Jackets to continue developing a bond of wanting to help everyone succeed for the good of the team over the individual.
“In 2019, it was about the girls who were on the team, and it’s still about that,” Luciano said. “I love my teammates. I would do anything for them. That’s been my favorite thing about the culture here at BW all five years is just we’re there for each other. We have each other’s backs no matter what.”
For Luciano, part of having her teammates’ backs includes putting her experience to good use and being there for them on and off the court.
“I’m done after this,” Luciano said. “There’s nothing I can do. I don’t have an extra year, so right now, I think it’s just supporting some of the players, especially who could be a big leader.
“I want to leave the program better than I found it, so right now, I’m trying to just do everything I can to make sure that’s possible, to uplift my teammates and to just, like I said, leave it better than we found it.”
By leaving the BW program better than she found it, Luciano wants the Yellow Jackets go on a run in the OAC Tournament.
“We started practice in August, and we had seventh place written on the board -- where we were last year -- and that was something I feel like a lot of us took personally,” Luciano said. “We are not happy with seventh place. We want to keep working for it -- we’ve shown that we can rise to the challenge.
“I would love to end with the win. We’re not seventh place anymore. I think we see that, and I think other people will see as well.”
The Yellow Jackets enter the OAC Tournament as the sixth seed and will travel to Alliance on Tuesday, November 7 for an OAC Tournament quarterfinal match against third-seeded University of Mount Union. The winner of the match will advanced to the OAC Tournament semifinals on November 9 to take on second-seeded Marietta College. The winners of the semifinals will play for the championship on November 11 on the campus of the highest remaining seed.