Despite a back-and-forth battle throughout the match, top-seeded Ohio completed a straight-set sweep of No. 8 Ball State in quarterfinal Mid-American Conference Tournament action on Friday.
The Bobcats were able to carry their momentum from earning the regular season MAC Championship into the tournament opener, in which Ohio swept Ball State for the second time this year.
“I’m pleased with the match tonight to get our first win in the tournament,” Ohio coach Ryan Theis said. “We played offense really well and anytime you can hit over .300 in a match, it’s an all-out team effort, which was good moving forward.”
Both teams began match trading points, but Ohio was able to pull away at the end of each of the first two set and take a 2-0 lead heading into intermission, before coasting to a third set win to complete the sweep.
Ohio and Ball State battled back-and-forth in the first set, after trading points until the score was tied at eight. However, the Bobcats began to pull away for the first time in the match on their way to a 25-17 win.
The second set began similar to the first, but Ohio was not able to pull away until the end of the set.
The two teams were tied at 18, before the Cardinals went on a 4-2 run to take a 20-22 lead, but the Bobcats were able to close out the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Following a late second set win and intermission, the Bobcats began the third set strong and did not trail the remainder of the match, winning the final set 25-15.
“It was kind of nice for us to get pushed in the second set — where we caught a couple breaks — because we came out confident and playing well on offense in the third,” Theis said.
Leading the way at the net for Ohio were the sophomore outside hitters Kelly Lamberti and Chelsea Bilger, who each notched 11 kills.
Also recording strong performances in the opening round victory were freshman setter Abby Gilleland — who assisted her teammates 35 times — and sophomore middle blocker Serena Warner finished with eight kills and a solo block.
The Bobcats will take the court at the SPIRE Institute again tomorrow in semifinal action. Ohio will face No. 4 Northern Illinois, which defeated No. 5 Akron in the first match of the tourney Friday.
Ohio defeated Northern Illinois 3-1 in the teams’ only meeting this season. Lamberti led the Bobcats in the match, as she recorded a double-double of 17 kills and 14 digs, while scoring 20.5 points.
“Northern Illinois has one of the league’s faster offenses, so we are going to have to defend really well,” Theis said. “They run a fast tempo offense and have two All-MAC players in the middle, so it’s going to be a tough match for us.”
