Pregame
Ohio (13-2, 3-0 MAC) took the floor Saturday after defeating Miami in four sets on Friday in its first home match in conference play. Saturday was Ohio's annual "Dig Pink" event, which is put on for breast cancer research funds.
Bowling Green (6-8, 3-0 MAC) entered Saturday after defeating Kent State in four sets on the road the night before. The Falcons were picked to finish first in the Mid-American Conference East Division in the preseason coaches poll, and are off to an undefeated 3-0 start in MAC play after starting the non-conference schedule with a record of 3-8.
Bowling Green senior outside hitter Lindsey Butterfield was named the MAC East Division's offensive player of the week on Monday. She recorded 36 kills and 31 digs in the team's two wins, which included 25 kills, 18 digs and two blocks in the five-set victory at Miami last Thursday.
Ohio was 29-42 all-time against Bowling Green before Saturday, but they held an 8-2 advantage under head coach Ryan Theis. The squads split the two meetings last season, and the home team in won in straight-sets each time.
Follow @ThePostSports on Twitter for more in-game updates from Staff Writer and volleyball beat writer Alex Busch (@buschy6391).
First Set
The Bobcats started the match by scoring the first four out of five points, which started with an ace and a kill by Mallory Salis, and finished with kills from Liis Kullerkann, Kelly Lamberti and Alexis Pinson. Ohio led 5-1.
The Falcons then scored the next three points, which helped them get within one point, but the Bobcats then scored two of their own. Kullerkann and Gilleland had consecutive kills to put the Bobcats up by three. Ohio led 7-4.
Bowling Green came back to tie the score up at 10, but that was soon followed by three straight points by Ohio. Pinson had a block and Lamberti had a kill in the small run. Ohio led 13-10.
Bowling Green scored to get the set back within two points, 18-16, but then Ohio scored three straight points, which was capped with a block by Pinson and Kullerkann. Bowling Green took a timeout, as Ohio led 20-16.
Right after the timeout, a kill by Kullerkann and an ace by Gilleland continued the Bobcats run, and forced the Falcons to take another timeout. Ohio then led 22-16.
Right after the second timeout, the Bobcats win the last three out of four points, which was capped off by two straight blocks by Pinson. Ohio finished the set on a 9-2 run, Kullerkann had five kills in the opening set.
Final: Ohio 25, Bowling Green 17
Second Set: Ohio 1, Bowling Green 0
The teams split the first six points, but after it was tied 3-3, Bowling Green scored the next three points. Bowling Green led 6-3.
Imediately after the Falcons got off to the three point lead, the Bobcats came back with a short 4-1 lead, which tied the game at 7. Katie Horton registered a block and a kill in the run.
The teams exchnage points to tie it up again at 9, but then three straight points from Bowling Green forces Ohio to take a timeout. Bowling Green led 12-9.
After the timeout Ohio scored six of the next nine points to tie the game. This run included two kills by Lamberti, and ended with two straight aces by Lamberti. Bowling Green took a timeout, as the game was then tied at 15.
Bowling Green scored two out of the next three points, and Ohio took a timeout. The Falcons then led 17-16.
The teams exchanged points, but then two straight points by the Bobcats tied the set at 22, forcing the Falcons to take a timeout.
After the timeout, Ohio won three out of the last four points, including a kill by Lamberti and an ace by Geneva Yee. The Bobcats finished the set on an 8-2 run.
Final: Ohio 25, Bowling Green 23
Third Set: Ohio 2, Bowling Green 0
Ohio got off to a 6-3 lead early in the set, with the help of kills by Horton, Salis, Lamberti and Karin Bull, but then Bowling Green scored the next two points to cut the lead to one. Ohio led 6-5.
The Bobcats scored the next three points, which was finished with two straight blocks by Horton. Bowling Green took a timeout, as Ohio led 9-5.
The teams went back and forth, but then a kill by Bowling Green cut their deficit to three. Ohio then scored three straight points, Bull and Lamberti combined for blocks in consecutive plays to force Bowling Green to take a timeout. Ohio then led 16-10.
Ohio scored three of the next four points after the timeout, which increased the Bobcats run to 8-2. Ohio led 19-11.
After that, the teams exchanged points until Ohio led 23-15. Ohio capped the match off with two straight points, and defeating Bowling Green in straight sets.
Final: Ohio 25, Bowling Green 15
Final: Ohio 3, Bowling Green 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15)
Ohio
Kelly Lamberti - 10 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces, 2 assists, 1.5 blocks
Abby Gilleland - 34 assists, 7 digs, 2 kills, 1 ace
Mallory Salis - 11 digs, 4 kills, 1 ace
Alexis Pinson - 4 blocks, 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace
Katie Horton - 9 kills, 1.5 blocks, 1 block
Bowling Green
Paige Penrod - 11 kills, 7 digs, 1 block
Ashley Dunn - 23 digs, 4 assists
Laura Avila - 16 assists, 5 digs
Reactions
"(Bowling Green is) a really strong hitting team, I would say that's probably their greatest skill. We were able to slow some of those down (with blocks), and get some points when we needed them." -- Coach Ryan Theis on the teams blocking performance
"We want to prove to everyone in the MAC that they voted for the wrong team, and I think we did tonight." -- Kelly Lamberti on the win's importance
"I think everyone's service game was really good, I think we got them out of system and we got a lot of aces at critical times." -- Junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti on the service game
"We've used Geneva in the service role in a couple matches this year. We wanted to have an opportunity late in the game where we could try it again and it paid off huge. 23 all, and she comes in and gets an ace, and then a sweet dig and transition kill. She was a little bit of a gamechanger there at the end." -- Theis on Geneva Yee's contribution
"I was really excited, I came to dig pink last year, so I was really excited to put on the jersey and see the (alumni) band and everything. It was amazing." -- Freshman outside hitter Katie Horton on "Dig Pink"
Up Next
No. 20 Ohio (14-2, 4-0 MAC) starts a two-match roadtrip in which they will face Kent State on Thursday, and Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The Bobcats are now the only undefeated team in conference play in the MAC, and sit at first place in the MAC East Division.
Kent State (8-9, 2-2 MAC) started their first two weeks of conference play with consecutive 1-1 weekends, including two home games this weekend. The squad lost to Bowling Green on Friday in four sets, before defeating Miami in a three-set sweep. The Golden Flashes are tied for third in the MAC East Division.
Eastern Michigan (11-8, 1-3 MAC) has dropped three out of its first four conference matches. The Eagles lost two straight road matches this weekend, both in four sets. The team fell to Northern Illinois on Friday, before losing to Western Michigan on Saturday. The Bobcats swept Kent State twice last season.
After registering her 1,000th kill last weekend, Ohio outside hitter recorded 26 digs in two matches this weekend. She is now 22 digs short of 900 in her career, and only two players in all-time history have registered both marks in their career.
