MARIETTA — Two Marietta College volleyball players have earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors for the 2026 season. Senior middle blocker AnnaBelle Hacker was named second team All-OAC and junior outside hitter Karly Launder earned honorable mention, Marietta College Athletics announced Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The league office announced the team Wednesday morning, according to Marietta College Athletics. Hacker earned All-OAC recognition for the second straight season, while Launder received conference honors for the first time in her career.
Hacker’s case started at the net. The senior from Centerville, Ohio, and Alter High School started 25 matches and ranked third on the team with 199 kills, Marietta College Athletics reported. She also led the OAC with 118 blocks — the conference’s top blocking total, from its second-team middle.
“I am so proud of Annabelle and Karly for both of their accomplishments,” Marietta head coach Kristy Anderson told Marietta College Athletics. “We don’t have the success we did this season without them.”
Anderson reserved particular praise for her senior’s defense. “Annabelle was very worthy of second team all OAC,” Anderson told Marietta College Athletics. “Her blocking was the best in the conference, and I am so proud of the way she cared for her teammates along the way.”
Launder’s honor came from doing a little of everything. The junior from Pleasant City, Ohio, and Meadowbrook finished fifth in the OAC with 274 kills and led Marietta with 374 digs, ranking fourth in the conference, Marietta College Athletics reported. Emerging as one of the league’s top two-way players — top-five in kills, top-four in digs — is a rare combination for an outside hitter.
“Karly is a steady outside for us but where she stood out was in her defense and service reception,” Anderson told Marietta College Athletics. “I am so proud of how she stepped into her role this year and grew her defensive side of the game to put us in a position to be successful.”
Marietta finished the season with a 16-11 record and advanced to the OAC Tournament, Marietta College Athletics reported. The Pioneers’ season ended in the OAC Quarterfinals with a loss at the University of Mount Union.
The honors add a Southeast Ohio chapter to a busy week for Ohio women’s sports, which NewsForce247 has followed from Hudson girls soccer’s perfect run to the state final to Liberty-Benton and Ottawa Hills reaching state finals. Marietta’s pair earned theirs in a conference where every opponent sees the Pioneers twice a year — and still could not keep Hacker off the block leaderboard or Launder off the floor.
Hacker’s repeat selection carries its own weight. All-conference teams are voted on what a player did this season, not last, and a senior middle blocker who leads the entire conference in blocks while starting 25 matches has made her case in the statistic opponents feel most directly, Marietta College Athletics reported. Every OAC hitter who faced the Pioneers this fall had to account for her at the net on every rotation.
Launder’s rise follows a different arc. A first-time honoree who finished in the conference’s top five in kills and top four in digs was not a one-dimensional scorer riding a strong offense — she was, by the numbers Marietta College Athletics reported, one of the most complete players in the league, and she did it as a junior, with a senior season still to come.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on. Confirmed: Hacker’s second-team selection and conference-leading 118 blocks, Launder’s honorable mention with 274 kills and 374 digs, and Marietta’s 16-11 finish, all from Marietta College Athletics. Ahead: the Pioneers’ offseason, where replacing a two-time All-OAC senior middle blocker becomes the first item on Anderson’s list, while Launder returns as a senior to lead the outside.
What happens next for Marietta is the rebuild around what remains: Launder’s two-way production returns, Hacker’s blocking does not, and the Pioneers’ next season will test whether the program can stay in the OAC Tournament picture. For now, the conference’s own voters have settled the individual question — two Pioneers belonged on the All-OAC team.