Sports
Ohio Sweeps Kent State for 12th Straight Win
< < Back to ohio-sweeps-kent-state-12th-straight-winBobcat Volleyball defeated the Kent State Golden flashes in straight sets, 25-22, 25-13, 25-23 Thrsday to earn its 12th straight victory. Leading the way for Ohio was sophomore Kelly Lamberti, with 19 kills on the night. The ‘Cats played two very tough first and third sets.
“Kent state was playing really motivated tonight,” said head coach Ryan Theis. “They played hard and I am just happy to get out of here with a win.”
Kent State scored the first point of what would become a tightly contested opening set, but Ohio was quickly up 3-1 on a service ace and a Golden Flashes error. Kent tied the set at 5-5, and rattled off four straight points on two kills by Tin Aderemi-Ibitola and two Chelsea Bilger errors. Following an Ohio timeout, the Bobcats crawled back into the match, and at 17-16, they took the lead for good on a Lamberti kill. Kent lost the set 25-22 on two straight errors.
“I thought that we served well. I thought we started off the night blocking well,” said Theis of his team’s performance early on. “We did a good job getting some block touches and points in transition.”
The second set played out much differently for the Bobcats. Though Kent State again scored the first point of the set, Ohio claimed the lead at 2-1 on another Golden Flashes error. From that point, the Green and White would not look back, and never relinquished the lead. Ohio jumped ahead 9-4 on a service ace by freshman Abby Gilleland. Following an error by Kent State the Bobcats went up 14-9. It was at that point that Ohio took command of the set, outscoring the Flashes 11-4 to win the second frame, 25-13.
Much like the first set, the third set was a close one. Kent got up on Ohio early, 4-1 on a kill by Morgan Shemmelhack. The ‘Cats took the lead at 6-5 on a Kent State bad set, but the Golden Flashes tied the set right back. A kill by Ohio sophomore Serena Warner tied the set for the eighth time. The set would remain close until the Bobcats made a short run to go up 20-16. The Flashes responded with a 5-1 run that tied the set again, at 21-21. The run forced Ohio to take a time out.
“We were just talking about what they wanted to do and what we wanted to do,” said Theis, summing up his time-out speech to the girls. “They went back and scored one or two and then we went back and scored one or two so it was continuous and it stays close.”
After fighting to a 23-23 tie, Ohio managed two points on an error by Kent and a kill by senior Lexie Hartnett to win the set 25-23.
Though happy with his team’s victory, Theis mentioned that Ohio must play better offensively in its next game against Central Michigan in order to get a win.
The Bobcats will travel to take on the Chippewas Saturday at 7 p.m.