Podraza, coach Oldenburg explain stunning Ohio State portal situation

The NCAA transfer portal is always the topic of conversation in college volleyball. The impact of transfers can’t overstated, nor the free agency that exists in the game.

But the situation at Ohio State last week was a stunner. All-American setter Mac Podraza, All-American libero Kylie Murr, and both outsides, Gabby Gonzalez and Jenaisya Moore, all entered the portal. All four are seniors who have played four seasons and, because of the COVID waiver, have one more to use if they want to.

Ohio State, which lost in the regional final to eventual NCAA champion Texas, not only  tied for third in the Big Ten this season, the Buckeyes finished the season No. 7 in the NCAA RPI. Podraza, the 6-foot-2 product of Sunbury, Ohio, was the B1G setter of the year. Murr the defensive player of the year and Gonzalez made the all-conference second team.

Podraza, for one, said what she was hearing people say about the entire situation was wrong and wanted to tell her side of it. So did her third-year coach, Jen Flynn Oldenburg, who was caught, let’s say, between an overinflated volleyball and a hard place:

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