H-L grad shines in basketball, academics at Bluffton

BLUFFTON – Olivia Zender personified her coach's favorite part of her game during the first week in January. The 5-foot-5 junior guard for Bluffton University's women's basketball team sustained a concussion and a split lip that required nine stitches in a Christmas Eve traffic crash. Eleven days later, having gone through concussion protocol, the former Hopewell-Loudon standout returned to practice, wearing a face mask for protection. And, two days after that, she played 23 minutes in the Beavers' 72-54 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over visiting Franklin College. "Bar none, she's one of the toughest kids we've got," Bluffton coach Chad Shutler said. As a junior eligibility-wise and a senior academically, Zender is playing her biggest career role for the Beavers this season while continuing to carry grades that hover around 4.0 and land her on the dean's list. Add in a trip last summer to Ecuador through the university, and you can easily say Zender is maximizing her college experience as well as playing competing at the NCAA Division III level, which does not allow students to receive athletic scholarships. "This is a great level, Division III, where you can be as good of a student as you want, be as good of a basketball player as you want and still have a social life, have friends," said Shutler, who is in his 16th year as Bluffton's head coach and can claim his 200th career victory today at Hanover College. "You can do it all. We require a lot of time, but they still have a life. And the higher up you go (in division), that changes." Indeed, while coaches depend on their players to improve their games during the summer, some can also take pride in the players' representations of the school outside their sport. Such was the case with Zender, who spent two weeks in Ecuador as part of a university cross-cultural experience. As well as seeing various sites, Zender and other students volunteered in the Centro Medico Clinic. "It was a very eye-opening experience because the average income there is between $400 and $500 a month," Zender said. "These people live so differently from us and we hear about it, but you do not fully understand until you get to experience it with your own eyes. "This was one of the most meaningful experiences I have had so far in my life. I am grateful that Bluffton has a program that allows us to help poorer areas around the world and give us a life-changing experience." Zender is ahead of schedule in graduating because she took advantage of the ability to take college classes through Tiffin University while still attending Hopewell-Loudon. She said she entered Bluffton with 51 college credits, which has helped enable the social work and psychology major to be on pace to complete her bachelor's degree in the spring and, if she desires, play a fourth season of basketball in 2024-25 while starting on her master's degree.Zender said "it's up in the air" as to whether she returns to Bluffton next year. "My initial plan was to go to Case Western (Reserve, in Cleveland) for grad school in another year, so if I stay, it's strictly because I want to play basketball," she said. "I love being here with my teammates and my friends, but in some ways I feel like I'm ready to move on." Zender was voted a team captain as one of the most experienced players on this season's squad, which enters today's game with a record of 5-9 overall and 3-4 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. In 29.1 minutes per contest this season, she's averaged 10.5 games, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals. She started at guard in every game prior to her injury. She came off the bench against Franklin to collect 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals in 23 minutes. "It was a little hard to adjust to (the face mask)," she said. "Something seemed to be in my face all the time. But it wasn't too bad." Making adjustments is something any athlete encounters as he or she moves along different levels. Zender was largely relied upon for scoring from behind the 3-point arc at H-L. And while she's still capable of that, there's more. "Not much has changed, but I probably get to the basket more, and to the foul line," she said. "I'm not always shooting 3's anymore. I try to trust my teammates more. I don't think any one of us on the court stands out any more than another. It's kind of fun that we can all be at the same pace and we can all fill in for what one person can't do. "I don't think I've changed too much other than getting to the basket and the foul line. I don't really shoot a ton of 3's. I'm not a high-volume shooter here. Taking care of the ball and my defensive play are probably my strongest suits here." Shutler said she's learned how to better get to the basket and to create shots for herself. And, of course, a constant is that hard-nosed approach that Shutler appreciates so much. "She's physical," he said. "After games, when you look at the stat sheet, she's a leading rebounder and she's 5-5," he said after the Jan 6 game. "There are some places where the kid who wants it is going to go get it. She's so competitive and so physical. She probably got three loose balls today out there today because she wanted it more. That's something you can't teach. You have to have that. She does, and that's her nature."