In this weekend’s most recent iteration of the Battle of the Bricks, Ohio (5-14, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) defeated Miami (9-10, 3-4 MAC). In what may be a turnaround for Ohio’s season, it has now won its past three games and looks to continue the march toward the MAC tournament. These wins also mean so much to the team, as the rivalry with Miami fueled the amazing play from the Bobcats.
Coming off of its first win in a month against Kent State, Ohio returned to the Convo to face off against Miami. The Bobcats put on a show right away, taking a 5-1 lead with kills from freshman Mady Long, freshman Bailey Blair and junior Emily Waddell. Miami was able to get the game to 20-19 in favor of Ohio. Ohio was able to rattle off five unanswered points to take the set.
“I’ve never lost a set to Miami since I’ve been here,” Waddell said. “We take that seriously.”
Ohio captured the second set with an even bigger lead. Miami scored first, but Ohio answered with four straight points. Miami tried to get back in the game numerous times, but the Bobcats' defense didn’t allow any scoring from the Redhawks while on offense. The huge scoring runs early in the set paid off as Ohio would take the second set with a score of 25-18.
“I think right now, our defensive lineup is pretty spectacular and hard to beat,” Ohio head coach Kenzie Brinkman said. “Blocking stats don’t mean anything as long as we are blocking up and in a really good position so our defense can play.”
Ohio opened the third set trading points with Miami until it ripped off a four-score run to take a 7-3 lead early in the set. The offense continued to trade points until the score was 20-19.
Ohio answered with five straight kills to close out the set, courtesy of Blair, Waddell and junior Gentry Brown.
“The girls talked about the importance of this game and the history of the rivalry with Miami,” Brinkman said. “It just feels good to win in general, and if I’m being honest with you, that’s obviously extra special against Miami.”
Saturday’s game against Miami was the first time Ohio has played the same team back-to-back this season. The Bobcats didn’t let this statistic affect them, though, as they also won this game, completing the sweep of Miami. Ohio did lose one set, but it quickly cleaned up the mistakes it made and was able to secure the game.
The first set was Ohio’s most dominant set against Miami, as it won with a nine-point lead. There were a lot of points traded until once again, Ohio was able to put up a few scoring runs to pull away. With the score being 21-16 in favor of the Bobcats, a few of their players made big plays to secure the win. Junior Torre Kildow had two kills, and sophomore Sierra Evans had a block and a kill to put away Miami in the first set and get the win with a score of 25-16.
The second set in this game was the only set Ohio would lose against Miami, as it became an extended set thanks to Miami’s great play, along with mistakes made by Ohio late into the set. Miami was actually able to stop and keep up with Ohio’s offensive output until the final moments of the second set.
With the score being 24-22, Miami was able to score three points to bring the score to 25-24, forcing the extended set, in which Ohio made numerous errors that would lead to Miami winning with a score of 27-25, evening the match to one set apiece.
“A lot of that second set was our errors,” Brinkman said. “We just shortened up things that we can control on our side.”
Despite losing the second set, Ohio came out of the locker room and dominated. Miami was able to keep it close, but Ohio was able to pull away, and the defense completely stifled Miami towards the end of the set.
Numerous challenges from Brinkman went her way, bolstering Ohio’s momentum even further. Also, Miami’s coach was handed a red card, which fired up Ohio. Following the red card, back-to-back kills from Blair helped seal the set for Ohio with a final score of 25-17.
“I think that the challenges tonight were pretty obvious challenges, ones that I could hear audibly,” Brinkman said. “It's always fun when you win a challenge and my team gets riled up for me since I haven’t won a lot.”
Ohio closed out the game with another dominant showing in the fourth set, opening the game with three straight points. Ohio’s Darbi Ricketts had back-to-back service aces, and Miami started to make some sloppy plays, further adding to Ohio’s point total. Ohio would comfortably take the set with a score of 25-17 and would win the game, three sets to one.
“This entire season is a journey, it's not a sprint,” Brinkman said. “We’ve done a really good job of staying in the moment, taking it one day at a time. I think that's really shown and it's obviously nice to see a couple of dubs on the scoreboard.”
