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[Lindsey Crawford | WOUB]

Bobcats face off against Colonels in final game of Green and White invitational

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB)- The Ohio Bobcats team (4-7)  fell to the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (9-4) in a three-set in the Green and White Invitational.

It did not take Eastern Kentucky long to find success against the Bobcats as they took a four-point lead early in the first set. #Bryn Janke served up an ace for the Colonels, however, Sarah Mitchell responded with one of her own. Ohio fought to maintain its dominance but quickly found themselves down 16-8 as the first set continued.

Eastern Kentucky continued to lead Ohio with two back-to-back kills from Cooper Abney to set the score at 21-10. The Colonels finished off the first set with a final score of 25-18. 

Diving into the second set, the Bobcats kept up with the Colonels. An attack error by AG Vandagriff tied the score at 4-4 early on, and later, a bad set by Kendall Hickey tied the game at 6-6. Both teams kept the match close, tying the game at 11-11 after a kill by Olivia Gardner with an assist from Chariti McKeller.

Kam Hunt attempts a block against Eastern Kentucky. [HG Biggs | WOUB Public Media]
Ohio finally took hold of the lead late in the second when Elizabeth Hoerlein and Chariti McKeller teamed up for a block to set the score at 20-18. To keep the momentum going, a kill by Madi Tolzman tied the game at 24-24, but it wasn’t until an attack error by Kam Hunt finished off the second set at 28-26 in favor of the Colonels. 

Ohio took the 3-1 lead going into the third set, but it was not long until Eastern Kentucky found their groove. A kill each by Paige Wagers and Sarah Mitchell helped the Colonels to take the lead, and then a serve ace from Madi Tolzman kept the ball rolling. However, the Bobcats clawed their way back into this match-up after a kill from Emily Waddell with an assist from Chariti McKeller to tie it up 9-9. Furthermore, Anna Kharchynska’s service ace gave Ohio a one-point lead. Both teams were neck-and-neck with one another, Kharchynska’s impressive 12 kills helped to propel her team forward to tie the game 19-19.  

Tensions were rising between the two teams, especially after a key serve ace from Emilee Hill for the Colonels to make the score 21-21. The match-up continued similarly until a bad set by Sierra Evans helped Eastern Kentucky to win this game 25-23. 

Despite the team’s performance today, Coach Geoff Carlston believes that the team has a lot to look forward to in MAC play. 

“Our ability to take aggressive swings in key moments and take a few more risks on offense,” Carlston said. “And then there’s times, you know, just to live another day and not blast in the tape.” 

Next, Ohio will take on the Toledo Rockets on Friday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. at the Convocation Center, while Eastern Kentucky will take on Austin Peay on Sep. 26 at 6 p.m.