Despite not sweeping its second consecutive tournament this weekend at the Michigan Invitational, No. 24 Ohio won two of its three matches and is off to its best start since 1995.
The Bobcats (10-2) defeated Maryland in a straight-set sweep on Friday to begin the tournament, before then winning in four sets later on Friday against Marshall, but Ohio could not finish a perfect weekend, as it fell to No. 10 Michigan in five sets on Saturday.
During the match against the Terrapins, redshirt junior outside hitter Liis Kullerkann and junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti each notched nine kills, while Lamberti also added eight digs during the opening victory.
“Both teams were good in game one and it dropped off after that,” coach Ryan Theis said. “Karin (Bull) made a couple big plays for us to get us going. We fought back from down 15-11 in game three and I thought that showed some character.”
During Ohio’s match against Marshall, sophomore setter Abby Gilleland recorded 40 assists, eight digs and four kills, while Kullerkann notched seven kills and hit for a .400 percentage.
But the Bobcats did not continue their winning streak on Saturday, as the Wolverines prevailed with a back-and-forth, five-set victory.
"We played very hard," Theis said. "Michigan is good in all six phases of the game. Their offense started well, and it became really difficult it kill it."
Each time the Wolverines won a set, the Bobcats responded with a gritty set victory of their own, but Ohio couldn’t close out the match with a win, as Michigan finished the set on a 4-2 run.
“They’re really good at not giving us any points,” sophomore middle blocker Karin Bull said. “They made very few errors during the entire match. We had to earn every point that we scored.”
Lamberti recorded her fifth double-double of the season, a team-best, as she notched a team-high of 21 kills, along with 15 digs, in one of her best performances this year.
Kullerkann and freshman outside hitter Katie Horton each registered 10 kills, while Bull recorded seven kills and a team-leading four blocks.
Gilleland notched a team-high 27 assists and a season-high 18 digs, while sophomore libero Meredith Ashy registered her tenth consecutive match with double-digit digs with 16 against Michigan.
Bull and Gilleland each received All-Tournament honors after their performance throughout the weekend, as Bull recorded 25 kills, while Gilleland notched 118 assists, 35 digs and nine kills during Ohio’s three matches this weekend.
The Bobcats are now 2-2 against nationally ranked teams and will begin Mid-American Conference play next weekend.
ab109410@ohiou.edu
@buschy6391
