Ooltewah volleyball stars Hanna Matthews and Alex Biro shared signing parties Monday a the school's Little Theater. From left, assistant coach Taylor Flynn, head coach Elaine Peigen, Matthews, who is going to Trevecca Nazarene, Biro, who will attend Carson-Newman, and assistant coach Heidi Moses.
photo by Larry Fleming
Ooltewah volleyball standouts Alex Biro and Hanna Matthews certainly left their mark on the Lady Owls’ program.
Now, the two long-time teammates want to do the same, only at difference colleges.
On Monday, Biro and Matthews enjoyed their joint signing parties in the Ooltewah Little Theater. Biro will attend Carson-Newman University and Matthews is heading to Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
“Their last four years at Ooltewah has meant success,” Lady Owls coach Elaine Peigen said.
In their prep career, Biro and Matthews – they were two of the most prominent hitters and setters in Chattanooga as seniors – helped the Lady Owls put up a 171-50 record and appear in two TSSAA Class 5A state tournaments.
This past season ended with losses to powerhouse Brentwood Academy and Houston in a combined six games.
Peigen called the day “heartbreaking.”
There is no diminishing what the two stellar players were able to accomplish at Ooltewah.
Biro had 1,273 kills – her specialty – in four seasons. She added 173 digs, nine assists, 99 aces and 351 blocks.
Biro was also named all-district, all-region multiple times and earned all-district and all-region MVP honors.
With her signing scholarship papers Monday, Biro can only look ahead.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “I know coach (Dan Ahiers) will make me a great volleyball player and they also have sand volleyball, which I’ll be participating in and that’s an added bonus. Ever since Dan got there, they’ve done great.”
Ahiers, who just finished his second season, went 25-6 this year, but burst onto the scene in 2014 when he posted a 27-7 record – the second-most wins in school history – and gained the school’s first berth in the NCAA tournament.
“He’s not the type of coach that just plays seniors,” Biro said. “I’ve just been in contact with all the other incoming freshmen players and I love everybody already.”
Biro was first introduced to C-N volleyball when Ahiers conducted a camp at Ooltewah over the summer. She has visited the Jefferson City campus four times, including once with her friend in volleyball, Haven Bethune.
“Carson-Newman was the first school to offer me,” Biro said. “When I was looking at other schools, none of them was like Carson-Newman. I knew there was no need for me to look any more. East Tennessee State is the only other school I visited and that made me realize that Carson-Newman was where I was meant to be.”
Matthews was equally impressive, registering 222 kills, 761 digs, a whopping 3,268 assists, 174 aces and 203 blocks during her time at Ooltewah.
In a semifinal match against rival Walker Valley in the District 5-AAA tournament at Cleveland, Matthews was credited with a personal-best 55 assists. Matthews had twice notched 48 assists, including in a sectional match against Columbia in 2013 as a sophomore and against Walker Valley during her senior season.
Matthews also considered Berry College, Carson-Newman and Alabama-Huntsville, but she said Trevecca “suited me best.”
Did Matthews and Biro consider going to college as a “package deal.”
“We talked about it at the end of our sophomore season, but it wasn’t that big a deal,” Mathews said.
What was the final factor in her decision to attend Trevecca?
“The people over there are super nice and I love Nashville,” she said. “It’s away from home, but not too far and I love the Christian part of the school, and it’s small. It’s really nice.
“The girls are nice and I think I’ll mesh with them super easy. It will be nice to see us play some nice volleyball.”
Trevecca is coached by Jayme Crowley, who just finished her eighths year with the Trojans.
Matthews also has been honored as all-district, all-region, all-district MVP and all-region MVP.
Neither Biro nor Matthews will have any problems adjusting to college academics.
Matthews has a 4.0 grade-point average and has made 25 on the ACT. Biro’s GPA stands a 3.89 and she got a 26 on the ACT.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gamail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)