Sports
Ohio Volleyball opens its season with a rousing win over Bucknell
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — As Ohio interim head coach Kenzie Brinkman called a timeout midway though the first set of the match between Ohio (1-0) and Bucknell (0-2), there was little on her mind besides regrouping her squad.
“They are a group that’s already so locked in and so hard on themselves,” Brinkman said. “I really don’t need to coach them in that kind of manner. Just allowing them to understand, ‘Hey, you made a mistake. It was aggressive. We’re going to work through this. We’ll get the next one.’ I think that helped a lot.”
The first set of the match started off a little auspiciously for Brinkman’s squad. Bucknell, who had already played in the first match of the Bobcat Invitational earlier in the day, seemed to be in a rhythm already. Through the first part of the set, Bucknell held a 12-8 advantage, forcing Brinkman to call an early timeout.
Ohio was relying on a lot of inexperience on the outside. Not only did Ohio start a pair of freshmen, but a lot of the returning players did not have a ton of experience playing. That appeared to be a detriment to Ohio as it could not get past Bucknell’s defense at the net. Coming out of the timeout, the Bobcats were able to flip the switch and make some adjustments offensively.
In the second set, Ohio made sure to rely on some of the veteran talent to claw back after an early deficit. Oakland transfer Gentry Brown and Olivia Gardner were both able to finish some points. The teams largely traded points during the first part of the second set. With the score tied at five, the Bobcats went on a 9-1 run to make it 14-6. During that run, Brown picked up two kills while Ohio capitalized on a number of errors by Bucknell. From there, Ohio closed out the set by keeping Bucknell at arm’s length, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with its 25-23 victory in set two.
The third set appeared to be a coronation for the Bobcats as they hoped to ring in the new era with a sweep. The Bison were not keen on allowing that to happen, making sure that the Bobcats would be forced to play clean volleyball in order to end the match. The Bison capitalized on some hot hitting with a .258 clip in the third set, winning it to stay alive in the match.
As Ohio got the fourth set underway, it desperately wanted to get out of The Convo with a succinct win. The fourth set started off with Bucknell taking yet another early lead, scoring the first three points of the set. From there, Ohio went on an 8-0 run to capture a firm grasp on the set. Ohio would continue to keep Bucknell at a distance during the remainder of the set, winning 25-21 on a powerful kill by Blair.
Ohio was able to hit its stride in the final set, hitting a game-high 0.195 to close out Bucknell. Moreover, Ohio was able to avoid making too many attacking errors during the match. One of the places it struggled was the service line with a number of service errors marring what could have been a near-flawless performance by Ohio.
What Ohio missed in power on the outside, it made up for with some finesse. Feathering the ball over the net was a piece of the scouting report that Ohio.
After the final point was scored for Ohio, the emotions finally set in for Brinkman as she realized that her team picked up her first career victory. Emerging from the locker room drenched in water after her team doused her in celebration.
“I almost started crying, but I didn’t want to cry too prematurely,” Brinkman said. “I love these girls so much. I love everything about them and, for them to go out there and play like this with a great crowd, doing something that I love while doing something they love, I don’t think it gets any better as a coach.”