Charlie Hatch and Luke O'Roark present their top 10 moments in Ohio athletics this year.
In honor of our last issue of sports-related content this year, the editors put together a top 10 list of the best moments in sports for the Ohio Bobcats in 2015-16.
1. Volleyball wins the Mid-American Conference Tournament
In 2014, Ohio wrecked the MAC, going undefeated in conference play. But then the Bobcats lost in the MAC Championship Game.
In 2015, Ohio had another strong season, but hit a rough patch in late October/early November. Losing three games in four, their championship hopes were threatened.
But the Bobcats recovered and went on to win the MAC Tournament in The Convo. It was a deserving title that came a year after it probably should have.
2. Big Tone’s big year
There was seemingly nothing Antonio Campbell couldn’t do on the basketball court in 2016.
He grabbed rebounds with one hand. He bumped and grinded on the low block against some of the best big men in the conference.
He shot an unprecedented 37 percent from beyond the arc as a center, while averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game.
And for it, he became the first player in Ohio program history to win MAC Player of the Year and receive AP All-American Honors since 2013.
3. Women’s basketball makes WNIT Sweet Sixteen
There’s no doubt that coach Bob Boldon and the Bobcats expected to make the NCAA Tournament again. Entering the preseason as the MAC favorites, Ohio was tripped up by Buffalo three times, ending those expectations.
Rather than going to the WNIT dejected, Ohio played some of its best basketball, beating Marshall and Virginia Tech inside The Convo to send off arguably one of the best teams in program history.
The win over Marshall was the first Ohio win in postseason history.
4. Wrestling sends seven wrestlers to NCAA Championships
Ohio finished third at the MAC Championships, and five wrestlers qualified to wrestle in the NCAA Tournament in New York City. In addition, two more Bobcats were invited as at-large bids to wrestle at Madison Square Garden.
5. Peyton White wins Hoosier invitational
Ohio’s Peyton White was swinging into the program’s history books his freshman year.
Now as a junior, White has become one of the best golfers in Ohio history.
He proved it late this spring, winning the Hoosier Invitational — the first Bobcat to win a tournament since John Mlyarski did so in 2008.
White shot a two-round score of 142 and seven birdies.
6. Savannah Jo Dorsey on her way back to the history books
Sure, the season is in progress, but it’s safe to say Savannah Jo Dorsey is on pace to win MAC Pitcher of the Year. The honor is even more impressive when you consider that Dorsey sat out the majority of 2015 injured.
7. Bobcats > Wildcats
Kentucky is widely known as a Southeastern Conference powerhouse in most sports it partakes in.
And that’s what makes Ohio’s win against No. 10 Kentucky in volleyball and No. 12 Kentucky softball this year so special.
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Ohio, which plays in a conference that doesn’t get as much love nationally as it should, can beat its chest proudly knowing it topped two nationally ranked teams this season.
8. Football returns to a bowl game after one-year hiatus
After going 8-5 during the regular season, Ohio made the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, where it played Appalachian State. However, Ohio's offense was unable to perform under pressure, collapsing in the fourth quarter in a 31-29 loss.
9. KB for 3
Bobcat fans said goodbye to Kiyanna Black, a sharp-shooting guard who helped transform the women’s basketball team from its worst season in program history to its best two years later.
Black finished second all-time in program history for points scored (1,774) and first in made 3-pointers. She made 329 attempts. The next closest person had 242.
10. “Saul Ball” excited The Convo
To say coach Saul Phillips’ first year at Ohio was disappointing would be a fair assessment. Ohio won 10 games in 2014-15.
But Ohio transformed into a tenacious, thrilling team in 2015-16 and ended the regular season as the No. 2 seed entering the MAC Tournament. It was a better season than Phillips or his team could have predicted, and now, it foreshadows what could happen in 2016-17.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
