For the second consecutive year, Ohio exited the Mid-American Conference Tournament in the semifinal round despite dominating regular-season play.
After earning the top seed in the tournament and winning the MAC East for the tenth consecutive season, the Bobcats finished the tournament shy of the title match after their five-set loss to Northern Illinois Saturday.
The Bobcats fell to soon-to-be champion Central Michigan in last year’s semifinal, which was Ohio’s first MAC Tournament loss in four years. Ohio coach Ryan Theis claims the tournament is much different than the regular season.
“Once you begin tournament play, you run into very hot teams. That’s what the tournament is,” Theis said. “It’s a completely different animal and now for two years in a row we couldn’t be the hottest team for three straight matches.”
In 2011, the Bobcats finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, claiming the MAC’s second-best regular season record. But after coasting by Miami in the opening quarterfinal round, Ohio was swept by Central Michigan in the semifinals.
After failing to win the MAC Tournament for the first time in four years, the Bobcats finished this year’s regular season MAC campaign with a conference-best record of 14-2 and the conference tournament’s top seed, yet failed to make good of either accolade.
Although the Bobcats were unable to win their eighth MAC Tournament in the past decade, Ohio still has a slim chance to earn a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Bobcats currently possess an RPI of 62 and will remain on the bubble to receive one of the 33 at-large bids, in the field of 64 teams.
“We are realistic enough at this point that we are probably going to bubble out for the NCAA Tournament,” Theis said. “But we have one match still to play and we are going to lace up our shoes Friday night and play like we still have everything on the line.”
Ohio (20-10) has one match remaining on its schedule, as Notre Dame (20-8) will enter The Convo on Friday to close out the regular season.
The Fighting Irish were upset in the first round of the Big East Tournament by South Florida in a four-set match on Friday. However, Notre Dame had won 11 of 12 matches prior to the tournament and has an RPI of 36, having played four top-10 opponents this season.
Notre Dame is led by outside hitter Toni Alugbue and right side hitter Jeni Houser, sophomores who earned first team all-Big East honors. The two rank first and second on the team in kills and points.
The Bobcats will look to bounce back from their early exit in the MAC Tournament and improve their 12-2 home record. Ohio is 4-1 in the teams’ all-time series, but they have not met since 2009.
Quick Stats:
— Ohio lost in the MAC Tournament semifinals for the second straight year.
— The Bobcats have an RPI of 62 and an outside chance to make the NCAA Tournament.
— Ohio will play its final match of the season Friday against Notre Dame.
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