Ohio won two matches against Mid-American Conference opponents over the weekend, pushing its winning streak to seven matches.
Ohio downed Toledo 3-2 in its first five-set win of the season Friday before moving on to defeat Ball State in straight sets Saturday.
Ohio (12-8, 7-1 MAC) won the final two sets of its match against Toledo (8-12, 2-6 MAC) to clinch the back-and-forth match.
After trading points for the majority of the first set, Toledo scored the set’s final three points and defeated Ohio 29-27.
The Bobcats responded to a questionable kill call late in the first set that favored the Rockets by scoring seven of the second set’s final 10 points to tie the match.
The Rockets were able to slide to another two-point victory to end the third set, putting the Bobcats in a hole heading into the fourth.
Ohio returned the favor with a three-point win in the fourth set, before dominating the fifth with a 15-8 victory to clinch the win.
“I was very happy with the way we continued to battle tonight,” said Ohio coach Ryan Theis. “We responded really well to adversity in the games and did what we had to do to win. “
Sophomore outside hitters Kelly Lamberti and Chelsea Bilger set career highs in kills with 24 and 21, respectively, while Ohio notched season highs in aces, assists, kills and digs in the win.
Freshman libero Meredith Ashy also had a career-high 29 digs, while sophomore middle blocker Serena Warner totaled three aces — a career high.
Ohio carried momentum from their Friday win into Saturday’s game against Ball State. The win was the Bobcats’ sixth straight-set sweep in their past seven matches.
“It can be deflating to play five sets on Friday and then come out and play again Saturday,” Theis said. “It was really key for us to complete the win against Toledo, so we were able to come out confident and with momentum into Saturday.”
The Cardinals (10-11, 3-5 MAC) stayed within an arm’s length in each of the three sets, but Ohio was led by an all-around balanced attack the entire match.
Ohio relied on its blocking to take the first set and keep the rapid-firing Ball State offense grounded, as the Bobcats recorded six of their eight rejections in just the first set.
The Bobcats then held off a Cardinals’ comeback attempt late in the second match before controlling the entire third set to wrap up the match win with a dominant 25-12 victory.
After a slew of career and season highs Friday, no Bobcats recorded double-digit kills against Ball State. The lone two players to total double-digit points were freshman middle blocker Karin Bull and Warner, who scored 11.5 points apiece.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
