Sports
Ohio Volleyball: Bobcats keep Toledo win-less in MAC play
By: Max Brunke
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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Bobcats (13-8, 5-3 MAC) hosted the Toledo Rockets (7-13, 0-8 MAC) and handled them accordingly in a huge 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-22) win at the Convo.
Tonight was the first and only match-up between Ohio and Toledo of the season, unless the two see each other again in the Mid-American Conference tournament at the end of the year.
Ohio entered the game today coming off of a loss to Ball State in MAC play 3-0. Though the Bobcats were swept, every set was close, losing 25-20, 27-25, and 26-24.
Ohio have been playing well the past couple of weeks in conference play, and this was a bad time for Toledo to come to Athens.
Ohio junior Tia Jimerson was confident in her teammates abilities today, especially after what she saw in last night’s tough loss.
“We had a lot of effort last night and just putting together the execution today, it kind of just all worked out,” Jimerson said.
Jimerson finished the night with 6 blocks, and she credits the Bobcats fluid defense tonight for gathering themselves and executing.
The Rockets were looking to avoid their first 0-8 start in the MAC since 2015, where they ended up finishing 3-13.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, their hopes would be squashed after two quick sets left them trailing 0-2.
By the time the Rockets tried to take one set back, the Bobcats managed to pull back ahead late in the third set and avoid losing their chance at a sweep.
“They’re going to push back, they’re good enough to do that, they did and we had to respond,” Ohio Head Coach Deane Webb said.
After conceding their largest deficit of the night of 4 points, the Bobcats secured 11 points from the following 14 rallies to sweep the Rockets.
Jimerson also noted how it felt finally beating the Rockets after falling to them three years in a row.
“Just to come in and finally beat them… it just felt really good,” Jimerson said.
The Bobcats will go on a four-game MAC road trip over the next two weeks, where they’ll face Western Michigan (11-8, 2-5 MAC) next Friday, then Northern Illinois (6-16, 3-5 MAC) the following Saturday.
A 2-0 weekend for the Bobcats against two mid-table MAC West teams could go a long way for the confidence of these girls.
For the Rockets, they’ll return home to host Bowling Green (11-8, 5-2 MAC) on Friday, then get another tough matchup against Miami (10-8, 5-2 MAC) on Saturday.
They’ll be hoping to avoid their first win-less season in conference play since 2014, in which they finished 0-16 in conference and 1-23 overall.