Sports
Volleyball: Ohio Takes Care of Business at Home Against Miami
< < Back to volleyball-ohio-takes-care-business-home-against-miamiWhen your rival comes in to town, it doesn’t take much to get your team motivated to crush the opponent. But when one-third of the players on your team are freshman and new to the rivalry, a head coach can find out a lot about their team by the way they play and whether or not they rise to the occasion. Ohio University Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Ryan Theis found out that his team is for real after they swept the rival Miami RedHawks, 3-0, in the Convocation Center on Saturday.
“It was a great win and it feels good to start MAC play 2-0. It’s going to be a competitive season of MAC play,” Theis said of the rivalry.
An overall dominating performance is the only way one can really describe the Bobcats’ win tonight as they defeated Miami in every aspect of the game. The first set was won 25-14, the second set a bit closer at 25-20, and the door was closed on the third set 25-16, as it was smooth sailing for the Bobcats as they swept their rivals. The biggest difference was attacking percentage, with Ohio out-attacking Miami 35.4 percent to 11.5 percent throughout the entire match. The second set was huge for the Cats when they finished with 45.5 percent attacking. Lexie Hartnett led the Cats in attacking percentage with an astonishing 54.5 percent, followed close behind by Katie Post and Bailey Karst who finished at 50 percent. The hammer tonight was outside hitter Kelly Lamberti, as she led the way for the Bobcats with 18 kills on 33 total attacks.
The Bobcats also had a very impressive night on the defensive side of the net, out-blocking the RedHawks 13.5 to 5. Outside hitter Faith Robins had 4.5 total blocks, Lexie Hartnett had 3.5, and Katie Post had 3 for the Bobcats tonight. The defensive presence was also felt in the back row as the Cats accumulated 44 total digs in the evening. Defensive specialist Mollie Geske pioneered the way for the Cats in the back row with 12 digs. Some unusual names to hear in back row stats were Kelly Lamberti and Baily Karst, who contributed 9 and 8 digs respectively.
The win over Miami continued the undefeated streak at home over the RedHawks for Theis and seniors Katie Post and Nicole Staverman. The Bobcats start their MAC play with two straight wins this weekend and are building on momentum.
“We look to maintain our good play heading in to next weekend,” Post said.
The Bobcats leave Thursday morning as they travel to Kent State to take on the Golden Flashes and look to stay undefeated in MAC play.