With two wins this weekend, Ohio clinched the Mid-American Conference East Division with four games to play in the regular season.
The Bobcats (17-9, 9-3) won a five-set match Saturday against the Falcons, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-11.
Ohio hit .400 in the first set. Freshman outside hitter Kelly Lamberti had five kills in the second set en route to a 20-kill performance for the match.
In the second set, both teams did not hit high hitting percentages. The Bobcats hit .065 and the Falcons hit .074 and won the set.
Coach Ryan Theis said the Falcons served well at times in the match, which made it hard to get into a rhythm, especially in sets two and four.
Ohio gained the early advantage with an 8-1 lead in the third set and was propelled by a .367 hitting percentage to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Bobcats eventually won the match in the fifth set to push their record to 5-1 when matches go to five sets.
“I don’t think we blew any big leads,” Theis said. “We finished games.”
In the second match of the weekend, Ohio completed the season sweep against rival Miami, 25-20, 28-26, 25-14.
The teams played evenly for much of the first set, but a service error by Lisa Treadway, a kill by Chelsea Bilger and a Lamberti ace pushed the Bobcat lead to 20-16. The team never gave up its edge.
Theis called a timeout with Ohio down 25-26 in the second set. The decision proved to be pivotal. Coming out of the timeout, a kill by Lamberti, a Bailey Karst service ace and a Faith Robins kill sealed the second-set victory.
Ohio continued to hold on to its big leads and closed out the final set 25-14.
Theis said Bilger’s play made the match “the best game she’s played all season.”
Bilger finished with 13 kills and hit .323 for the match. She added 15 digs to the Bobcats’ defensive effort.
Even though the Bobcats clinched the division, Theis said the distinction is not the same because they do not get a boost in seeding for the conference tournament. Previously, the division winners were automatically seeded first and second in the tournament.
“It’s lost some of its luster,” he said.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
