For the tenth consecutive year, Ohio has finished its regular season schedule as the top team in the Mid-American Conference east division.
Ohio (19-9, 14-2 MAC) defeated Buffalo and Akron this past weekend to clinch the conference title and the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, which will be held this coming weekend in Geneva, Ohio.
The Bobcats began last weekend at Buffalo (10-18, 4-12 MAC), where they coasted to a straight-set sweep, after not trailing the entire match. Ohio outscored Buffalo 75-44, marking its best offensive performance of the season with a .410 hitting percentage and four different players recording double-digit points.
“After the disappointment (against Central Michigan), this is the performance we needed to have,” said Ohio coach Ryan Theis. “We wanted to get back out on the road and play well. (Buffalo) is always a tough place to play and we were able to get a win here amid this great atmosphere.”
After sweeping Buffalo for the second time this year, Ohio traveled to Akron to play its fourth-straight and final road match of the regular season.
Akron (16-12, 9-7 MAC) gave Ohio a much closer match than Buffalo, as both the Zips and Bobcats scored at least 20 points in three of the four sets.
However, Ohio was able to finish sets strong on its way to clinch the match 3-1 and solidify the conference title.
Against the Zips, sophomore outside hitter Kelly Lamberti led the way for the Bobcats, scoring 22 points from 21 kills and 13 digs. She was one of five players to score double-digit points, but fellow sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Bilger was the only other Bobcat to record at least 10 kills.
At the conclusion of the match, Ohio had guaranteed itself at least a share of the MAC Title with Bowling Green, which had the same number of losses as Ohio.
As the Bobcats boarded their bus to travel back to Athens, the match between Bowling Green and Northern Illinois concluded, with the Falcons suffering their third loss in MAC play, giving Ohio the title outright.
“To win the regular season means a lot,” Theis said. “It means over a period of time, we played the best in the league and our team is hopefully celebrating now.”
Following a pair of dominant performances, Lamberti was awarded the Mid-American Conference offensive player of the week honors Monday, marking the third time this season she has received the award.
The Bobcats swept the weekly awards, with sophomore middle blocker Serena Warner receiving the defensive honors. She recorded 10 block assists and 13 kills on the weekend, while also finishing conference play with the best blocks per set average in the MAC.
Ohio will begin MAC Tournament play Friday against No. 8 Ball State as the Bobcats will attempt to win the tournament after failing to do so last season for the first time since 2007.
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