Sports
Ohio Comes From Behind to Win Five-Setter Over EMU
By: Mitchell Lyons
Posted on:
Coming into Saturday’s contest against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-12, 2-4), the Ohio Bobcats (9-9, 5-1) were tied for the most aces in the Mid-American Conference.
That will change after Saturday’s five set victory over the Eagles (25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-8) in Athens.
Down two sets to one, senior captain Brooke Coleman headed behind the line to serve. An error by Rachel Irbe tied the set at 17. Two of Coleman’s next three serves were aces. Eastern Michigan called a timeout and Ohio led 20-17. Back-to-back kills by Mallory Salis upped the lead to five. The two teams traded points until a service error by Irbe gave Ohio its 25 points and the set victory.
For Coleman those aces were two of her team high four aces. Five Bobcats registered an ace.
In the fifth set Riley Taylor gave the Eagles the first point with an ace, but Ali Lake tied it with a kill. Then the magnificent Mallory Salis and Jaime Kosiorek took over. Each player registered four kills. A service error by Stephanie Olman made it an 8-7 Ohio lead. But kills by Salis, Lake and Kosiorek made it an 11-7 game. Ohio scored three of the next four points to make it match point. The match ended with an ace, Ohio’s 10th of the game, by Erica Walker.
The first set was tied at five but a kill by Katie Nelson gave Ohio the lead, one they would not relinquish. The two teams traded points until a kill by Salis gave Ohio a 14-12 lead. An error and an ace by Coleman, gave Ohio a 16-12 lead. Back-to-back kills by Kosiorek gave Ohio a 22-16 lead. Salis closed out the set with a kill.
An ace by Coleman gave Ohio a 19-12 lead in set number two. At this point, it looked like Ohio would cruse to another set victory and potentially sweep the Eagles. But that did not happen. An error by Kosiorek tied the match at 23. Two straight aces by Taylor and a kill by Devon Murray. The Eagles scored 12 of the final 18 points and came back to win the second set.
The third set was a lot like the second one. Ohio led throughout but could not close the Eagles out. Eastern Michigan once again scored the last three points to take the third set. It looked like they would take the fourth set and win the match but Coleman and the Cats had a different idea.
“I think we lost ourselves and who we were in those sets (the second and third). You could tell that EMU wanted it way more than we did,” Salis said after the game. “Even when we were up 17-12, our faces were just down, and we weren’t really into the game. The defensive intensity changed, it switched from our side to EMU. They were picking everything up, and scrappy. But, then we came back and showed our character. That’s what I’m really proud of.”
Salis led all players with 22 kills. Right behind her was Kosiorek with 21 kills. Nelson had 11 kills and Lake added 10. Walker led the Bobcats with 22 digs, Salis had 19, Coleman with 16 and Olman added 10. Ohio used both setters in the match. Olman had 35 assists and Katelyn Burke had 19. For the Eagles, Irbe had 18 kills and 11 digs while Murray had 13. Taylor led all players with 50 assists. Alyssa LaFace led all players with 23 digs.
Ohio is back in action on Friday when they travel to Toledo to take on the Rockets.