Pregame
No. 22 Ohio (11-2, 1-0 MAC) entered Saturday after winning their first Mid-American Conference match of the season against Buffalo on Friday. Sophomore setter Abby Gilleland notched 36 assists, 17 digs, 5 kills, 4.5 blocks, and 2 aces in the victory.
Akron (6-6, 0-1 MAC) came into the match after losing to Kent State in its MAC opener in five sets. The Zips rallied from dropping the first two sets to take the third and fourth sets, but fell just short of a comeback as the Golden Flashes edged them in the fifth set.
Ohio led the all-time series against Akron 32-23, and had won the past five matchups.
First Set
Ohio got off to a 5-2 lead, thanks to two consecutive attack errors by Akron. The Zips then cut the lead to three with a kill of their own. Ohio led 5-3.
The Bobcats then went on a short 3-0 run, which included a kill by Karin Bull, an attack error, and a bad set. Ohio then led 8-3.
The teams went back and forth for a little while until the Bobcats had a lead of 13-9.
Ohio then went on a 5-0 run, which was capped off with three straight service errors by Alexis Pinson. Ohio led 18-9.
Once the score was tied 21-12, the Bobcats finished the set off by scoring the last four points. Kelly Lamberti finished the set with a service ace on the last play. Ohio finished on a 13-4 run, and they notched five service aces in the opening set.
Final: Ohio 25, Akron 12
Second Set: Ohio 1, Akron 0
Akron started the set by grabbing a 4-1 lead, but kills from Liis Kullerkann and Lamberti helped the Bobcats come back to tie the game up at 4, and then at 5.
Ohio got off to a couple short leads, but a couple kills from the other side helped Akron tie the game back up at 7.
Ohio then scored the next four points with the help of two kills by Mallory Salis, and one by Gilleland. Ohio then led 11-7.
A service ace by Lamberti and a kill by Bull helped the Bobcats get up to a five point lead. Ohio led 15-10.
A 5-0 run, and then a 5-1 run helped the Bobcats take the second set by the same exact score as the first. The set was finished off with a kill by Hannah Burkle. Ohio finished the set on a 11-3 run.
Final: Ohio 25, Akron 12
Third Set: Ohio 2, Akron 0
The Bobcats got off to a 7-2 start in the set, which was acheived with the help of four kills by Lamberti.
The teams traded points, but two kills from Lamberti and one from Pinson helped the Bobcats reach a six-point lead. Ohio led 11-5.
After being substituted into the game, Kullerkann killed the ball to put the Bobcats up 14-9. Akron then scored the next three points, a pair of which were attack errors by Ohio, which led 14-12.
The Bobcats and the Zips exchanged points for a while, until the score was 21-19. Two mistakes by Akron helped the Bobcats go up by four, but then Akron fought right back to win the next three points. Ryan Theis immediately took a timeout. Ohio then led 23-22.
After the timeout, Pinson got a kill, which was followed by a kill by Kullerkann to take the match. Kelly Lamberti had seven kills in the final set.
Final: Ohio 25, Akron 22
Final: Ohio 3, Akron 1 (25-12, 25-12, 25-22)
Ohio
Kelly Lamberti - 11 kills, 7 digs, 3 assists, 2 aces, 1.5 blocks
Abby Gilleland - 33 assists, 6 kills, 3 digs, 1.5 blocks
Alexis Pinson - 6 kills, 3 aces, 2 digs, 1.5 blocks
Mallory Salis - 8 digs, 3 kills, 2 aces, 1 assist
Liis Kullerkann - 7 kills, 1 dig, 0.5 blocks
Akron
Karley Kusan - 26 assists, 7 digs, 0.5 blocks
Kelsey Wilson - 9 kills, 1 dig, 1 block
Jill Paluch - 12 digs, 2 assists
Up Next
Ohio (12-2, 2-0 MAC) has two matches at home next weekend to start their MAC home schedule. The Bobcats face rival Miami on Friday before taking the floor against Bowling Green on Saturday.
Miami (8-5, 0-1 MAC) and Bowling Green (4-8, 1-0 MAC) faced off in Oxford on Thursday for both teams' MAC opener, as the Falcons won in five sets. Bowling Green dropped the first two sets, but rallied to win the last three in comeback fashion (19-25, 24-26, 25-24, 25-22, 18-16).
