Having endured a roller-coaster ride full of ups and downs throughout the season, coach Ryan Theis and the Bobcats are left hungry at the conclusion, despite having passed expectations.
“I really thought we were in the hunt to be selected for the NCAA Tournament after beating Notre Dame, however, we were left out,” Theis said. “But if you would have told me we would be regular season champs at the beginning of the season, I thought that would be a great achievement with how young we were.”
Ohio (21-10, 14-2 Mid-American Conference) achieved great success during the 2012 campaign, finishing with the regular season MAC title, tied best overall winning percentage in the conference and the highest RPI in the MAC.
Individually, the Bobcats also were dominant, as sophomore outside hitter Kelly Lamberti received the MAC player of the year and All-MAC first team honors. Fellow sophomore hitter Chelsea Bilger and freshman libero Meredith Ashy also received first-team honors.
However, after all the accolades achieved this season, the Bobcats were not awarded an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament after exiting the MAC Tournament in the second round. Bowling Green became the MAC’s lone representative in the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference tournament.
The Bobcats finished the season with an RPI of 52 and played eight matches against teams currently ranked higher than them, which all occurred in the team’s out-of-conference schedule to open the year. Ohio began MAC play with a record of just 5-7, but gained experience that Theis believed was greatly beneficial to his team’s success to finish.
“I thought we made great progress throughout the season,” Theis said. “The difference between us being in the NCAA Tournament comes down to maybe one match, but I’m proud of the way we finished. If we would have played our preseason schedule now, I think we could have won more of those matches.”
The Bobcats consistently had six underclassmen in the rotation throughout the season, allowing youth to be a factor against the four nationally ranked opponents with which Ohio shared the court.
But once conference play began, Ohio recorded a winning streak of 12 consecutive matches after a loss in the conference opener to Bowling Green.
However, the regular season success did not carry into the tournament, where the Bobcats were ousted in the semifinal match after leading Northern Illinois 2-0 at intermission.
This year marked the second consecutive in which Ohio did not win the MAC Tournament or get selected by the NCAA for an at-large bid, following eight seasons of postseason play.
With only three seniors on the squad — outside hitter Faith Robins, middle blocker Lexie Hartnett and setter Leah Petrovich — the future will continue to remain bright for Ohio, as nine of the current 16 players possess underclassmen status.
Although the season has concluded, the Bobcats will continue to practice throughout the coming weeks in an effort to improve for the spring schedule and next year’s campaign.
“We are going to start preparing right away to get better, so I figured, why not start now?” Theis said. “My excitement level this offseason will be very high.”
cl027410@ohiou.edu
