Ohio will take its five-match winning streak on the road this weekend as the Bobcats will be back on the prowl during two matches against Mid-American Conference Western Division opponents.
After winning all four matches during its recent home stand, Ohio (10-8, 5-1 MAC) will travel to Toledo and Ball State this weekend and looks to extend its 15-set winning streak.
“We haven’t been on the road since the MAC opening weekend, so we’ll see how it goes,” Ohio coach Ryan Theis said. “I’ve seen us play good volleyball at home that has translated to 3-0 wins, but on the road we need to be ready for a fight.”
Ohio will take the court with Toledo, which is currently in the midst of a four-match losing streak, on Friday. The Rockets (7-11, 1-5) have not won a match since defeating Buffalo.
Although Toledo possesses a sub-.500 record overall, the Rockets are 3-3 at home this season and are looking to break their losing streak to the Bobcats, which has stood for 13 seasons.
Ohio has not fared well on the road this season, only posting a 2-4 record in its opponents’ gyms.
After taking on the Rockets, the Bobcats will hop on the bus and travel to Ball State for another match Saturday.
The Cardinals (9-10, 2-4 MAC) have also endured losses recently, having been defeated in four consecutive matches. However, Ball State defeated Ohio this past season in The Convo by a score of 3-1 and controls the all-time series by 20 matches.
Ball State’s strength this season has been on offense, which ranks among the top four teams in kills, digs, assists and percentage in MAC play.
“They’re fueled by two of their primary point scorers, so we will have to limit those two without letting some of their other players score,” Theis said. “It’s tricky if you try and stop two people and then three, four and five come back and kill you.”
Leading the way for the Cardinals has been senior middle blocker Lisa Scott, who received the MAC West offensive player of the week honors on Monday after blasting 35 kills in two matches this past weekend.
While Ball State fires on offense, the Bobcats have been very effective on the other side of the net, as they rank first in the MAC in blocking and opposing hitting percentage.
Offensively, Ohio has also been stout recently, as sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Bilger was named the MAC East offensive player of the week after two strong matches against Akron and Buffalo.
“I think we need to continue what we have been doing the last couple weekends and we’ll all do well,” Bilger said. “It will be different this weekend though, because we will only have our families, not many fans, so it can be tough fighting off what the opposing fans say.”
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