Sports
Ohio Wins Another Five-Set Thriller
By: Alex Harrison
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Ohio walked a shaky tightrope Saturday but came off with a 3-2 win (25-11, 16-25, 20-25, 32-30, 15-11) over Ball State.
The Bobcats completely dominated the Cardinals to begin the match. After a Ball State attack error tied the set 9-9, the Bobcats won 16 of the next 18 points for a 25-11 set one win.
Ohio’s hitting percentage was over .400 after the first set, but dropped sharply just as the Bobcats dropped sets two and three. Ball State and Ohio stayed even for the majority of the sets two and three, but the Cardinals rode momentum to run away for wins.
Ball State was in position to wrap up the match in set four, but Ohio clawed back in and ended the trading off of points to force another set.
Ball State’s Ellie Dunn gave Ohio a point with an attack error to tie the set 22-22. From there, the Bobcats and the Cardinals tied at every point until Ohio led 31-30 with a Ball State error. A Simone Miller kill finished the set for Ohio.
The Cardinals, playing in a second straight five-set match, couldn’t handle Ohio’s momentum in set five and the Bobcats earned another Mid-American Conference victory and avoided a sweep on the weekend.
Ohio’s senior captain Mallory Salis turned in one of the best games of her career. Salis put down a career-high 25 kills with a team high .311 hitting percentage and added 22 digs.
Salis was fed by Stephanie Olman with 40 assists and aided by Jamie Kosiorek’s 17 kills and Katie Nelson’s 10 kills. Salis’s 22 digs was second on the team behind Erica Walker and her 23 digs.
Ball State (8-14, 4-4) was swept on the weekend, and continues one to Bowling Green which starts a string of five consecutive road matches.
Ohio (10-10, 6-2) returns to the Convocation Center for a home weekend against Northern Illinois on Friday and Western Michigan on Saturday.