Sports
Ohio Volleyball extends win streak to four over Eastern Michigan
By: Austin Yau
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Ohio Bobcats (6-14, 4-4 MAC) hosted the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-11, 2-6) to kick off their two game set over Alumni Weekend. In a tight battle that saw teams constantly trading points, the Bobcats would take down the Eagles in five sets to extend their winning streak to four straight. This win also moves the Bobcats to .500 in MAC play.
Interim head coach Kenzie Brinkman shared what allowed the team to stay strong during the close game.
“We did a really good job of managing the ebbs and the flows of the game,” she said.
The Bobcats and Eagles would trade points to start the first set with both teams playing fast-paced. Eastern Michigan would score four straight to take a 15-12 lead. But Ohio fought back with back-to-back Emily Waddell service aces to tie it at 15. Yet the Eagles proved stronger, scoring six straight to make it 23-16. They finished the match scoring eight while holding the Bobcats to two to win 25-18. Ava Siefke would get the set-clinching kill for the Eagles.
Despite the large margin in the scoreboard, the set was closer visually. Many tips and hits went the Eagles way instead of the Bobcats.
The second set would prove that the teams were equally matched. Ohio would score three straight to get to a 6-4 lead. But Eastern Michigan would catch them and from there it was a back-and-forth set . Ohio would score back to back points to seize a 23-21 lead. However, the Eagles would answer to tie it at 23-23.
The Eagles started the third set off strong with a 5-2 lead. But Ohio would answer and score four unanswered to gain a 6-5 advantage. The set looked to be much of the same early on.
That was until the Bobcats would score seven straight to take an 18-10 lead. Emily Waddell was a large contributor during that stretch, getting two service aces and a block.
Despite a decent effort from the Eagles, the Bobcats would hold on and get a large win of their own 25-17. Waddell would continue her strong offensive performance with a set-winning kill.
The game would return to how it was in the first two sets with the teams going back and forth until Ohio scored three straight. This meant they had a 12-9 lead. Yet Eastern would battle back to tie the set at 13. The teams would battle back and forth until they tied it at 22 apiece.
The Eagles would win the set 25-23 after scoring three straight and securing the win with a block from Kendal Bonney and Hatteras Walker. While Eastern played well, the Bobcats would miss digs and commit two errors to end up losing the fourth set.
Due to those errors it meant that the teams were headed for a fifth set. The Eagles would score three points in a row to take a commanding 4-2 lead. Ohio battled back to tie it at four.
The teams changed leads four times over the course of the match. Eastern Michigan rattled off three unanswered to get them to set point 14-13.
However, on what looked like the set and game-winning point for the Eagles the officials called a net infraction on Eastern Michigan tying the set at 14. From there the Bobcats would get a kill from Gentry Brown and Torre Kildow. The Bobcats would win the match on an error.
Freshman Bailey Blair had a team-high 19 kills with a .293 hitting percentage. Sierra Evans also had a strong game with 10 kills and leading the team with a .421 hitting percentage.
In a tight game the defense needs to perform well and Kendall Hickey would do so, diving after balls relentlessly on her way to 19 digs, second only to Bailey Blair.
Ohio will host Eastern Michigan on Friday at 3 p.m. to round out the series.