A second-generation Eagle student-athlete, Ashland University junior middle blocker
Myia Etzler is blazing her own trail as one of the top net players in NCAA Division II volleyball this fall.
Through Tuesday (Nov. 3), Etzler is sixth in D-II with 1.38 blocks per set, and tied for 21
st in the country with 106 total blocks. She has been a key cog in the Eagles leading the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 19-5 overall and 13-1 in the league prior to their first home match in almost five weeks, Friday (Nov. 6) at 6 p.m. vs. Ohio Dominican (21-6, 11-3) at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
"Myia's definitely one of our more competitive players," said Ashland head coach
Alicia Wood. "She's always working to become better than she was the day before. She took her blocking training really seriously from Day 1 this spring, and it's all been paying off. Very proud of Myia for all the accolades and accomplishments that she's had thus far, and just want to see her continue to grow and build, but we're not shocked that she's top 10 in the country in blocks.
"She's earned it."
"We came in with a new attitude and an open mind," Etzler said. "We've gotten better as the months have gone on. At the end of the season, it's hard, because you get tired and you get busy, and homework picks up, but I think we've done a really great of not letting up and keeping our foot in the gas."
She has started and played in 22 of Ashland's 24 matches so far this fall, and collected 137 kills, 49 digs, 12 service aces, and 11 assists – while hitting .287.
Etzler is following in the footsteps of her parents, both of whom were Eagle basketball players. Her mother,
Krista Thornell, played for the AU women's team in the late 1990s after transferring from Xavier. Her father,
Andy Etzler, played for the Ashland men's team in the late 1990s.
In addition, one of Etzler's brothers,
Javin, recently was a forward on the AU men's basketball team.
So was it a fait accompli that Etzler would end up as an Eagle once her career at Convoy Crestview High School, also her parents' alma mater a little more than two hours away from Ashland, was finished?
"Going to Crestview growing up, it was great. Everyone knows everyone, regardless of your last name," Etzler said. "My family was well-known, so everyone knew my grandpa, my parents, my brothers. I was kind of actually the one that was in the background, in the shadows a little bit. I'm the youngest, and the only girl, so my brothers kind of stood out, compared to me.
"Coming here, after pretty much everyone except by one brother, it wasn't set out for me to come here ahead of time, but I came here as a little girl, and I was like, 'Mom and dad, I want to go to Ashland when I grow up.'"
As a freshman for the Eagles, the younger Etzler saw action in 25 matches (12 starts) and 70 sets, finishing with 56 kills, a .233 hitting percentage, 17 service aces and 38 total blocks (28 assists). Last season as a sophomore, she played in 17 matches (nine starts) and 53 sets, ending with 65 kills and 33 total blocks (28 assists).
At the Midwest Region Crossover in October, Etzler set a new program single-match record with seven solo blocks against Saginaw Valley State – meaning she is the second member of her family to boast of a blocks record at AU. Her mother had nine blocks in an Eagle women's basketball game 28 years earlier.
"She's the one that told me that," Etzler admitted. "I knew she was in the record book, but I didn't know what for. After I set that record, she called me and she was like, 'How funny is it, it's two different sports and we have the same record?' I thought that was really cool."
Etzler discussed how her Christian faith informs her day-to-day life, both on the court and off.
"I've come face-to-face with a lot of teammates who are believers, as well," she noted. "Having people around you that also believe what you believe is really great, just to have a firm foundation.
"I think the biggest thing that I've learned…volleyball is not my identity. Volleyball is a part of me. I love volleyball, I enjoy volleyball, but it's not my whole life. And I'm going to walk away from here, and volleyball will not be in my life anymore, and I'm going to have a family, I'm going to have a job. My identity should lie in Christ, not in volleyball, so that's just the biggest thing."
Now, Etzler and the Eagles are looking to finish off a Great Midwest regular-season championship, go after a league tournament title, and possibly return to the NCAA Division II postseason for the first time since 2022.
"It's just exciting and just an amazing feeling to see how much our team has thrived, how much our junior class has grown, especially," Wood said.
