After sweeping their first weekend of Mid-American Conference play, the Bobcats will host MAC East rivals this weekend after spending the past three weekends on the road.
Ohio (12-2, 2-0 MAC) has played 11 of its first 14 matches on the road, but will be back in The Convo to host matches against Miami and Bowling Green.
“We’ve been away for a long time, and just being home for a full week is really different,” said Brooke Coleman, freshman setter and libero. “Normally we’re rushing and leaving on Thursday, but now we have time to really think about the games and really prepare for what we need to.”
Junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti recorded her 1,000th kill on Saturday against Akron, making her one of eight players in program history to reach that milestone.
She is also just 48 digs away from 900 for her career, as only two players have notched 1,000 kills and 900 digs in program history. Lamberti recorded 18 total digs last weekend on the road against Buffalo and Akron.
The Bobcats jumped two spots to No. 20 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll on Monday and will host the RedHawks Friday.
Miami (8-6, 0-2 MAC) was victorious in eight of its first nine contests, but has since lost five consecutive matches. Last weekend, Miami fell to Bowling Green and Western Michigan, though both losses were after a full five sets.
Miami runs out of a two-setter system, which includes junior Meg Riley, who received 2012 First Team All-MAC honors, and freshman Krista Brakauskas.
Ohio is 29-44 against Miami all time but holds an 11-2 record during coach Ryan Theis’ tenure at the helm.
Bowling Green (5-8, 2-0 MAC) has begun conference play with a 2-0 start after being picked to win the MAC East in the preseason coaches’ poll.
The Falcons completed a rigorous non-conference schedule with a 3-8 record, which included a win against then-No. 13 Brigham Young University. Ohio will be the fifth nationally ranked team that Bowling Green has played this season.
Three Falcons, Lindsey Butterfield, Paige Penrod and Danielle Tonyan, earned First Team All-MAC honors last season. Butterfield earned the MAC East offensive player of the week on Monday, and she sits at eighth in the conference with 3.23 kill per set.
“We’re pretty familiar with these guys. Miami has got some new faces, and BG hasn’t really changed much since we played them last year,” Theis said. “Our upperclassmen are certainly very familiar with who their players are.”
Saturday’s match will be the ‘Dig Pink’ game, which is put on to raise money for breast cancer with a partnership through the Side-Out Foundation. The team has raised $10,000 during the past six years and has a $1,500 goal this weekend.
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