Since Ohio was swept in its Mid-American Conference opener at Bowling Green, the Bobcats have not dropped a set and have now reached a season-high five-match winning streak.
Ohio (10-8, 5-1 MAC) defeated both Akron and Buffalo this weekend at The Convo, as the Bobcats have won 15 consecutive sets, breaking the 13-set streak the team completed earlier this season.
“I thought we had a goal this week of serving better and having a better ace-to-error ratio and we did both of those,” said Ohio coach Ryan Theis. “If we can get our offense rolling, which we have had in the last few matches, we can be tough to beat.”
The streak almost came to an end Friday, when the Zips led the Bobcats 18-13 in the second set, but Ohio was able to pull a comeback and finish the set with a 12-5 run.
In the match, sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Bilger recorded her 500th career kill, as she also set a season-high with 17 kills in the match.
After sweeping Akron in straight sets, Ohio took the court with Buffalo for a match between the top two MAC teams in blocking. However, neither team recorded more than five blocks in the match.
Bilger and fellow sophomore outside hitter Kelly Lamberti each scored 12 points and tallied 12 kills in the three-set victory.
Senior setter Leah Petrovich notched a match-high 25 assists, which is only one short of her season high in four sets against Oregon.
The Bobcats outscored the Bulls by 27 points in the match, despite the two squads trading points for the majority of each set. Ohio eventually would pull away from Buffalo and end the match with a significant lead.
“Every game matters now, so we just have to stay focused and take it one game at a time,” Lamberti said. “We start every set new and we need to keep playing the way we have been playing.”
After winning each of the four matches during their home stand, the Bobcats are now 8-2 on their home court, with lone losses to Kentucky and Oregon.
“We will get tested on the road, but it’s been nice to win these last four at home,” Theis said. “I think we’re finally starting to get a little bit more consistent and we seem to be pretty good in this building.”
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