Since the team’s first tournament this season concluded, coach Ryan Theis has preached a motto of overall consistency, not only as a team, but individually, in order to be successful.
After sweeping both Kent State and Eastern Michigan at The Convo last weekend, Ohio (8-8, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) has now won nine consecutive sets. The team won these sets by achieving consistency from set to set with solid play.
The Bobcats already accomplished a streak longer than nine consecutive set wins this season. The streak was as high as 13 wins before losing in five games to North Carolina. After that match, Ohio lost two more matches to complete a three-game skid.
To avoid another streak of losses, especially in MAC play, the team must continue to play steady match-to-match and within sets.
“I don’t know that we are playing our best yet, but I think we are playing well a lot of the time,” Theis said. “I’m pretty pleased with our offensive and defensive looks, but we are still making too many mistakes and are making them in bunches.”
This past weekend, multiple Bobcats contributed a pair of standout performances, most notably from sophomore outside hitters Kelly Lamberti and Chelsea Bilger. Freshman libero Meredith Ashy chipped in production as well.
Offensively, Lamberti and Bilger have shined as scorers, primarily from kills at the net, with neither out-performing the other.
Friday against Kent State, the duo combined for 27 points after each recording 12 kills. Saturday was much of the same story, as the two finished the match with the same number of kills (14) and points (15.5).
While the two sophomores are dominating on offense, Ashy was busy earning the MAC East defensive player of the week honors, after two solid matches of her own.
The libero became the third Bobcat to receive weekly MAC honors after finishing both matches as the team leader in digs with 20 and 21, respectively.
She also leads the team on the season with 254 digs, which is 73 more than the next leader and ranks fifth in the conference with an average of 4.70 digs per set.
“I thought Meredith dug the ball really well and passed well,” Theis said. “This weekend was a mixed-bag of who was playing well. I think we have players moving in the right direction and at their averages.”
As the team continues to progress through its conference schedule with two more matches at home this weekend, the Bobcats will look to remain at a level of performing at their potential and producing at and above their averages.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
