Sports
Ohio Volleyball Finishes 3-0 at FGCU Invitational
By: Max McDulin
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After being unable to come through with three straight wins in the previous two weekends, Ohio volleyball changed the script on Saturday with three a win in a row, and a second in a row against Florida Gulf Coast. Ohio defeated FGCU 3-1, (15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17) to improve to 10-3 on the season.
The Bobcats were powered by the strong offensive attack of Jamie Kosiorek, as she led the team with 18 kills, and Abby Gilleland who led the Cats’ with 42 assists. Not surprisingly libero Meredith Ashy continued to provide incredible defense as she had a team-leading 26 digs.
In the fourth and final set the Bobcats found no trouble exerting their dominance, as they took the match with a 25-17 win. FGCU led after the first point, but they did not retake the lead at any point after that however.
The Owls had one last chance to get back in the set when they took back the serve with Ohio’s 22-17 lead, but on the next point Kosiorek had a ferocious kill on a set from Gilleland that gave Ohio the momentum back. The Owls made two more errors, and the ‘Cats took the set and match.
Ohio had an extremely slow start to the match though as it hit only .048 percent in the first set, the only set in which the team hit below .333. The Owls on the other hand were successful .275 percent of the time and had a team total of 15 kills, those numbers helped lead FGCU to a 25-15 first set win.
The second set was an example of the Bobcat team’s strength. They took the set 25-18, and did so with a consistent offensive attack, and strong defense. The ‘Cats had 15 kills, and made only two errors to hit .351 in the set. After Ohio had led all through the start, FGCU was able to tie it up at 16-16, but that’s when Ohio turned it on. The Bobcats won the next seven points to take a 23-16 lead before winning the set.
The third set was much of the same from Ohio. The Bobcats were extremely consistent, making only three errors. They opened up the set by winning the first four points on a Kosiorek kill, a service ace from Ashy, an Owl error and then a Karin Bull kill. That quick start forced FGCU to make an adjustment and they subbed in Lauren Tutwiler and Elisa Aldrich. Eventually the Owls tied it up at 15-15 but then Ohio won the 10 of the next 13 points to close out the set.
Next up for Ohio is the start of conference play. The ‘Cats will take on Bowling Green Friday at home at 7 p.m.