Sports
Bobcat Invitational Brings In Quality Opponents for Volleyball
By: Alyssa Lyons
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Fresh off Ohio volleyball’s upset of the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats, the Bobcats are gearing up for more top-tier talent as they host the Bobcat Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Coming to town are the LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines and Xavier Musketeers.
The Bobcats open their invitational against the Tigers on Friday at 12:30 p.m. Later in the day, Ohio takes on Xavier at 7:30 p.m. Head coach Deanne Webb is looking forward to starting the day off against LSU, and sees a close matchup ahead with the Musketeers.
Ohio’s matchup with LSU will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Tigers are still looking for their first win of the year after losing to UC Irvine, Rice and No. 3 Texas.
Xavier is 2-1 so far in 2015, with its top victory being a 3-1 win over Mid-American Conference foe, Eastern Michigan. The Bobcats and Musketeers last met up in 2014. Ohio won a 3-0 sweep, and then-freshman Jamie Kosiorek had a match-high three aces to go along with 11 kills.
On Saturday, at 1 p.m., the ‘Cats take on a Michigan team that lost just one set against all three teams it faced at its own Michigan Invitational. The Bobcats last met up with Michigan in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when the Wolverines won 3-2.
To bring such an event and teams to Athens is, “great for our community, [and] great for our team,” Webb said.
Ohio is off to a hot start to the 2015 season after beating out VCU and Austin Peay at the Mortar Premier Tournament, and its most recent win over Kentucky.
Some of the team’s top performers include standout freshman Erica Walker, who had a team-high five aces against VCU.
“I was impressed for a freshman of smaller stature serving a deep, flat, heavy ball that really got an opponent in trouble,” Webb said.
“Any win that we earn will truly have been earned,” Webb said looking forward to a challenging weekend. “It will not have been given.”