Gezo bids adieu to OH volleyball after nine impressive seasons

Press Contributing Writer
sports@presspublications.com

For nine seasons, Jackie Gezo oversaw an impressive run of success at Oak Harbor.
Gezo, who recently decided to retire as the head volleyball coach at her alma mater, won five sectional titles, one district championship and a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title, lifting the program to heights that it hadn’t experienced in quite some time, if ever.
The 1983 graduate of Oak Harbor compiled a record of 134-84 (.615) as the head coach and was a coach within the program in some capacity for 27 years, having just one losing season.
Now, Gezo wants to slow down and relax.
“I’ve dedicated a lot of time to the program. It’s time for somebody younger to take over,” she said. “My husband is retired now, and we’d like to do more things together. It’s a different stage in my life.”
The pinnacle came in 2017 and 2018. In ‘17, the Rockets won the Bay Division — the first league title in 28 years — and the first 24 matches before falling to Central Catholic in a Division II district final, 3-1. But Oak Harbor got over the hump the next year, dominating their district and advancing to the regional semifinals before losing to Parma Heights Holy Name, 3-0, which advanced to win the state championship.
It was the first district title in 29 years, and the sectional championship in ’16 was the first for the program in 21 years. For her efforts, she won the Achievement Award in ’17, which was awarded to her by the OHSVCA (Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association).
But Gezo, a three-time district coach of the year, credits her players from the Class of ’18, which included Peyton Bloomer — arguably the greatest player in school history — Logan Harris, Kaytlynn Sandwisch, Alayna Hetrick and Jill Thorbahn, whom she led as the eighth grade coach in ’14, with talking her into taking over for Megan McGuire, who stepped away from the varsity position after building a strong foundation for the program.
Some of the other Rocket standouts that played for Gezo include Reagan Schultz, Grace Wolf, Ally Bloomer and Abby Dornbusch, among others.
“We had a lot of good players who have gone through the program over the years,” said Gezo, who got to coach with her daughter, Abbie. “As we continued to be successful, kids bought into the program and allowed us to continue to have success.
“There were so many good times, good memories. There have been good kids, good parents. We’ve always had good support from the community. I’ve gotten so many nice comments from people recently,” she said.
“My overall goal was to make each player a better person and develop a good work ethic. I hope they took some skills from volleyball that helped them be successful in life outside of volleyball,” she said.
Gezo – who took over for McGuire, who worked tirelessly to build up the biddy program – credits her assistants for their efforts, including her daughter, Abbie, Sandwisch, Amy Boss, Jordan Dunn, Brooke Moore, Beth Schanke, Michelle Roberts and Donna Hetrick.
Two of Gezo’s mentors, Melissa Belcher and Pam Bechtel, passed away recently, but they did get to see Gezo achieve success.
Belcher, whose niece, Alayna, played for the team, was a brilliant math teacher and volleyball coach, one who taught at Northview High School and coached there, as well as at Whitmer and Central Catholic. She coached the Fighting Irish to a state championship and earned a place in the school’s Hall of Fame, as well as a place in the Hall of Fame of her alma mater, Fremont Ross High School. Belcher passed away from ALS at the age of 49 in April 2022.
“She was a great coach and a mentor for me,” Gezo said. “She was a big part of my career. She did a camp for us. We would always ask her for advice. Even when she couldn’t communicate verbally, she communicated with her iPad.”
Gezo’s other mentor, Bechtel, coached her when she was in high school. Bechtel passed away in March, but Gezo presented her award when she was posthumously inducted into the Oak Harbor Athletic Hall of Fame in September.
Bechtel taught and coached volleyball at Oak Harbor from 1978-97. She coached the volleyball team to its first district championship in ’89. Following her time at Oak Harbor, Bechtel earned her doctorate in education.