Correction: An earlier version of this story had a headline that said Ohio Volleyball played Akron. The Bobcats had actually played Kent State.
After a hard-fought win against Akron this past weekend, Ohio is headed toward a positive start to its Mid-American Conference schedule with a 3-0 victory.
The Bobcats continued their at-home win streak with a sweep and remarkable performances from Caitlin O’Farrell and Sam Steele. O’Farrell led the team in kills, finishing the game with 14 kills, 1 block and 0 errors. Steele led the team in aces and digs, and she finished off with 4 aces, 4 assists and 12 digs.
With a close start in the first set and a few positive runs, Ohio took the win with an ace from Steele by a score of 25-19. That win was just the start of what the Bobcats had in store.
The Golden Flashes tried to keep up with the help of Mackenzie McGuire, who had a team high of 10 kills throughout the match, but with tough serves from Steele – and O’Farrells’ 6 kills and 1 block – they fell short. Ohio won the second set by a score of 17-25.
With two sets won, the Bobcats started off the third set up by a few points but the Golden Flashes weren’t too far behind. After a few serving errors and tough kills, the Golden Flashes began scoring back-to-back, going on a 5-point streak. The Bobcats picked up their energy ending the Flashes scoring run. This shift of intensity led the Bobcats to another victory ending the third set with a kill by O’Farrell leaving the score 17-25.
The Bobcats' offense has continued to strengthen these past two matches, leading them on the right track to what could be a promising conference season.
“Especially coming off of a win this weekend after a couple of losses, we just kinda have started to feel like ourselves again,“ O’Farrell said. "So I think that makes the intensity really easy."
Focusing on being the best teammates, giving as much as each player can and being smart with how they play is what she said helped the team these past two matches.
O’Farrell also shared her motivation for the incredible game she had.
“(Motivation was) honestly just to sweep on a Tuesday night,“ O’Farrel said. "Get as many points as possible in as little time and just have fun while we do it.”
Ohio plays again this Friday on the road against Buffalo. With Buffalo being 12-2 including 2-0 in the MAC – and being the team that eliminated Ohio in the MAC tournament in 2022 – Ohio will need to play at the highest level it can to continue its winning streak.
