With a trio of matches against Purdue, No. 16 Tennessee and Xavier this weekend at the Purdue Mortar Board Premier, saying the odds are stacked against the Ohio volleyball team may be an understatement.
If you're to ask everyone in the country what the outcome of this weekend will be
they would probably say that we'd lose to at least Tennessee and Purdue coach Geoff Carlston said. But we like that and we use that as fire.
The Bobcats (8-1) will need all the fire they can muster as they face off against the undefeated Boilermakers (8-0) at 8 p.m. tonight at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility in West Lafayette, Ind.
Setter Renata Dargan heads Purdue's attack and her 13.40 assists per game average has earned her back-to-back Big Ten player of the week awards. However, Ohio setter Savanah Parra has a 13.71 assists per game average, enough to hold the No. 12 best assists average in the country.
Thus far, the Boilermakers have tallied 71.0 total blocks on the season as compared to the Bobcats' 50.0, something Carlston is very aware of.
We have to work on our covering because they're a great blocking team he said. We need to give ourselves second and third opportunities so that when we do get blocked
we can make it into a kill or just something we can recover from.
No matter what the outcome Friday night, Ohio will have no choice but to shift their focus to the No. 16 team in the country, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers (5-1), whom the Bobcats play at noon Saturday.
You basically have to get your mind wrapped around it
outside hitter Jenna Gaughran said. Once a match is over
you can't focus on that loss or that win
you just have to go on and play tough the next game.
Last year's Southeastern Conference regular season co-champion and tournament champion Tennessee has only faltered once this year, when No. 14 Missouri swept them Sept. 9.
Recently named player of the week by CollegeVolleyballUpdate.com, Lady Vols' outside hitter Yuliya Stoyanova kick starts the attack with her 5.78 kills per game average and .450 hitting percentage.
For their final match of the tournament the Bobcats will face Xavier at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Musketeers (6-2) hold the edge on the all-time series 9-7 and have what Carlston described as a scrappy, hard-nosed team that will provide as much of a challenge as both of the other opponents.
Our team will be ready for everyone
he said. They know the competition and they like the challenges
but all three are going to be brawls.
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