By Katie Carrera The Post

February 5, 2008

Athens, OH (UWIRE) -- After a five-year run in which he became the winningest coach in Ohio volleyball history, Geoff Carlston announced his resignation yesterday to take over the vacant head coaching position at Ohio State.

The Bobcats' assistant coaches, Nadia Edwards and Don Gromala, are also making the move to Columbus.

Carlston leaves the Bobcats with a 144-22 record, having led Ohio to five Mid-American Conference regular season titles and four consecutive MAC Tournament Championships. He had been named MAC Coach of the Year four times and Mideast Region Coach of the Year twice.

Prior to the 2007 season, Carlston signed a three-year contract extension at Ohio, where he last earned a base salary of $100,000. But when the opportunity to move to a larger city and a more prominent conference presented itself, it was one he and his wife couldn't pass up.

"The more we learned about it and the more we talked about it as a family, the more it became something that I at least had to seriously look at," said Carlston, who declined to comment on the details of his hiring because he had not yet signed a contract with Ohio State.

Heather Lyke Catalano, an associate athletic director at Ohio State who headed the search committee that selected Carlston, said she wanted to confer with legal representation before releasing the coach's salary or length of contract.

Carlston, who will be the fifth head coach in Buckeyes' history following the retirement of 25-year head coach Jim Stone, kept his Ohio team updated as he considered the position and said he didn't make a final decision until this past weekend.

"It was hard to think about not being a part of this program, not wearing green, not being a part of Ohio," Carlston said.

"The thing I know with open eyes is no matter where I go, it will never ever have the sense of community for volleyball that we have here," he continued. "I understand that no matter where I go, that's going to be lost."

In addition to transforming Ohio from a sub-.500 team to a perennial contender in the MAC and a nationally ranked program, Carlston helped start a volleyball craze in Athens that grew with the success of his teams. Ohio drew less than 400 fans per match prior to Carlston's arrival; 1,518 fans on average attended each home volleyball match in 2007.

But the hardest part for Carlston was telling the players yesterday morning of his decision.

"I was really upset," sophomore outside hitter Ellen Herman said. "I've never been in any type of coaching move ... but yes, I cried a lot. I don't think my tear ducts - I don't think there's any more water in them."

Despite her disappointment, Herman said the team is happy for Carlston as he "keeps going in his journey coaching" and that they will work to maintain the winning tradition he established at Ohio.

The athletic department has already begun looking for a new coach and the team will interview candidates as part of the search, Herman said.

"We're all pretty upset, but we're all happy for him but still we don't want him to go, he's done so much for us," Herman said. "For another coach to come in - they're going to have big shoes to fill."

Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt could not be reached for comment on this story.

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