Sports
Ohio Volleyball: Ohio falls to senior night rival Miami; finishes conference play 7-9
By: Michael Roth
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Ohio welcomed Miami to the Convo for their final game before the MAC tournament in Oxford next weekend.
The Bobcats celebrated senior night four four seniors: Jaime Kosiorek, Katie Nelson, Stephanie Olman and Carley Remmers were all honored pregame for their careers in Athens.
Ohio however, was unable to send the senior class out a winner at home as the Bobcats fell to the Redhawks 3-0 (26-24, 30-28, 25-21) in a game that was much more competitive than the three-set sweep suggests.
“It’s frustrating to lose when you are right there, but you can take a positive that we were right there with a top team in the conference,” Kosiorek said.
Ohio fought hard in the first set, but was unable to come up with the necessary points at the end of the set. Olman had five kills and Kosiorek had four, both starting off strong for their senior night. Sophie Riemersma, Stela Kukoc and Courtney Simons combined for ten first set kills to lead Miami offensively.
“Being close hurts more, but you never want to be blown out,” Coach Webb said.
The second set was another tightly contested set, but despite having set point in favor of the Bobcats for a second straight set, Ohio was unable to finish off a resilient Miami squad. Tia Jimerson had a .800 hit % in the set to pace Ohio’s offense, with Vera Giacomazzi assisting the Bobcats a match high 15 times in the set. Riemersma was dominant in the second set with nine kills for the Redhawks.
The third set was another close one, but Ohio was just a step behind the Redhawks for the majority of the set and despite a couple runs near the end of the set, it was too little too late. Ohio played fairly even with Miami all night, the Bobcats only hit .023% less in hit %. Another positive for the Bobcats was the fact that they only had seven unforced errors in the match.
“We were more aggressive with our attack than yesterday, but we also controlled our swings much better tonight,” Webb said.
With it being senior night, the Bobcats seniors will end their home careers with many achievements on the court. Kosiorek became the all-time ace leader for a career, but it was the impact they had off the floor that meant the most to coach Webb.
“This is the first group of seniors that my kids knew and the first group that I was their only coach,” Webb said. “That makes it different and what they mean goes considerably beyond volleyball.”
Ohio will play on Northern Illinois Thursday in the MAC tournament in Oxford in the first round. The winner of that game will play Ball State on Friday.
“Anyone can beat anyone in the MAC, but competing with the top teams this weekend makes us confident heading into the tournament,” Kosiorek said.