Assistant coach Meghan Keck told the starters to celebrate overdramatically whenever they scored, while coach Ryan Theis reinforced the same to the other side during a scrimmage at practice this week.
Whenever one side tallied, the yells and screams probably didn't match the feat, but the Bobcats showed a side not seen in matches: fun.
Heading into an away match at East Division rival Kent State, Ohio (13-10, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) is trying to instill a joy into matches, which seems to be lacking so far.
I think what brings it down is when you get frustrated
the fun kind of goes away senior libero Meryl Bender said. What we've really been working on is our motto: 'fun versus frustration.'
In practice, it's all fun. If we are frustrated, we creep the fun back in, and so we're trying to work on that in the game.
The normally business-like attitude of Ohio has turned into frustration as of late. The Bobcats were swept last weekend at home and have lost four of their last six matches.
With five conference losses already Theis admitted the team didn't have much of a chance to win the MAC regular season title and instead will focus on getting the East Division crown and nabbing the second seed in the conference tournament.
To add to the frustration of losing
Ohio has found itself close late into sets but can't manage wins.
Saturday night against Northern Illinois
the Bobcats went out to a quick 4-0 lead in the second set and even led 22-20 late
but a service error with set point led to a 27-25 loss. This is only one example.
The team practiced those situations this week in order to fix the problem.
What we're trying to do to fix that is trying to stay focused after 20 (points), Bender said. 'Tough after 20' is what we're really working on in practice. Ryan's putting us in pressure situations on the scoreboard just to make sure that those opportunities that we do have, we're translating them into points instead.
The new fun philosophy could find itself useful in the high stressful situations
Theis said
but the team hasn't used it yet in the close sets.
Whether or not it will translate soon
Theis said he doesn't know.
I've actually talked about that for the last three weeks of 'fun versus frustration' in the close games, trying to make it fun, he said. Those are the fun matches. When you walk away and win a close one, it is more fun than winning in 50 minutes or losing at all.
@ThePostSports,",2,Sports,Matt Wagner,32847a.jpg,Senior Michelle Jantsch sets the ball to her teammate against Northern Illinois Saturday at the Convo. Michelle finished with 42 assists in the 3-1 loss. (Susannah Kay | FOR THE POST),",",",Up Next,TONIGHT
Ohio (13-10
5-5 MAC) at Kent State (10-15
3-7 MAC)
7 p.m.
