Sports
Ohio Stays Perfect in MAC Play with 3-1 Victory Over Western Michigan
By: Max McDulin
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Ohio Bobcats volleyball continued its pursuit of a perfect conference season with a win over the Western Michigan Broncos 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23) in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Friday night.
The Broncos pushed the ‘Cats hard in the final three sets of the match, but Ohio came out with the win. The 4th set was certainly not without its stress as the Broncos led for most of the way. Ohio found their groove and bounced back after being down 17-8. Abby Gilleland had a big kill, then three straight errors by the Broncos and a Jamie Kosiorek ace led to a Western Michigan timeout at 17-13.
Ohio kept slowly climbing their way back into the set. Then, while trailing 22-21, Meredith Ashy set up Karin Bull for the kill that effectively brought all the momentum to the ‘Cats side to tie it up 22-22.
On an odd following play, Western Michigan scored on a kill from Sydney Lemay when a great dig from Meredith Ashy wasn’t converted into a play. Even though Ohio trailed again, there was still a feel that the ‘Cats would not let this match slip away. They won the next three points to take the set 25-23 and the match with it.
After Ohio dominated the first set 25-18, Western Michigan showed great life in the second winning it 25-22. The Broncos defense was the key in the second set as they held Ohio to an .082 hitting percentage.
Ohio took the third 25-23 thanks to a much higher hitting percentage of .241. It was close, but the ‘Cats love to be pushed and were on their game in the important high pressure moments of the 4th set.
T his was a revenge game for the Bobcats after Western Michigan ended Ohio’s year in an incredible five set upset at last year’s Mid-American Conference tournament.
Next up for the Bobcats is a matchup against Northern Illinois in Dekalb, Ill. on Saturday night at 8 p.m.