As the month of October draws to a close, the Bobcats are halfway through a Mid-American Conference schedule that has been more trying than usual.
For a team that has been to the NCAA tournament the previous six years and boasts a roster loaded with talent, having three losses in the MAC is something that might happen at the end of the season, not typically the middle of it.
Some times
we just dig ourselves in a hole in matches that we can't get out of said coach Ryan Theis.
Last season, Ohio (13-8, 5-3 MAC) finished 26-6, and only one of the losses came during conference play. Now, the Bobcats have to buckle down and play effective volleyball as they welcome two of the conference's best to The Convo.
The oddest part about the team's performance so far in the conference is the fact that, statistically, Ohio is one of the strongest in the MAC.
We're leading the league in offense fourth in defense
and we're leading the league in blocking and in aces
Theis said. So we can't ask for much more statistically. But what we can ask for is the little things here and there that help us win matches.
The team also ranks ninth in the country in blocking, registering 2.85 per set.
At the same time, Ohio has been notorious for streaky play and repeated errors all season. Those types of mistakes have allowed the Bobcats to lose matches that, on paper, they probably shouldn't have, such as their 3-1 loss to Miami Oct. 9.
It's like the shortstop in baseball that both bobbles the ball and messes up the throw
Theis said. We can't have these multiple errors if we expect to be successful.
But Theis also said his team is capable of performing at a level previously obtained by successful teams of the past.
What I've seen is a team that's capable of competing at a championship level and winning a championship
but we probably need to finish games a little bit better
he said.
This weekend, Ohio will face two of its toughest matches on the conference slate, as Western Michigan and Northern Illinois will travel to Athens to begin the second half of the Bobcats' conference schedule.
There are matches where we can be 70 percent
80 percent
that you can get a 'C' and win
Theis said. That's not going to happen this weekend. We're going to have to get an 'A' to leave with wins against these teams.
