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Marion Local senior Chloe Ronnebaum, seated center, will attend Bluffton University and play volleyball for the Beavers. Seated with Chloe are her parents Mark and Jenny Ronnebaum. Standing from left are Marion Local volleyball coach Katherine Dirksen, Brady Ronnebaum, Faith Ronnebaum, Logan Ronnebaum and assistant coaches Katie Rosenbeck and Reagan Kremer.
After an injury curtailed her junior season of volleyball, Chloe Ronnebaum put in the work to get ready for her senior season on the Marion Local volleyball team.
The hard work paid off as Ronnebaum had a fine season for the Flyers and earned herself a ticket to continue her education and volleyball career at Bluffton University.
"It felt like home. It's close to home, being an hour away," said Ronnebaum, who will major in early childhood education. "It's a great school. The coaching staff welcomed me with open arms. I thought 'Why not?' "
Ronnebaum has been a main contributor to the front line of the Marion offense. As a junior, Ronnebaum averaged 3.2 kills per set and earned first team All-Midwest Athletic Conference honors, but her season ended during a match with Versailles due to injury and missed the rest of the volleyball season and all of basketball.
"I put in a lot of work," said "I went to PT (physical therapy) twice a day. Did the program at Performance at Coldwater, then I would go to the weight room when the girls lifted for practices when I couldn't. Then I tried to get into the gym as much as possible to get extra reps in to be back where I was."
The hard work in the weight room paid off as Ronnebaum was ready to go for the 2024 season. Ronnebaum finished the season averaging two kills per set to go with 3.5 digs per set, 26 blocks and 18 aces as the Flyers reached the Division VI district semifinals, losing to eventual state champion Coldwater.
"I missed it so much," said Ronnebaum. "It felt so good to be out there with my teammates, friends and coaches helping me to get back to where I needed to be to finish out the senior year."
Ronnebaum earned third team All-District 8 honors and will play in tonight's District 8 All-Star Match at the Palace in Coldwater.
Bluffton, playing in the NCAA Division III Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, finished 16-14 this season and 1-8 in HCAC play.
The MAC schedule as well as a tough non-conference competition has Ronnebaum prepared for the college game.
"The MAC's tough, then you have schools like (Division VII state champ) Fort Loramie (and) Anna's pretty tough (reaching the Division VI regional final). That will really help me at Bluffton because you'll see that kind of competition in college," said Ronnebaum.
