Ohio (11-4 overall, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) was back in The Convo over the weekend and capitalized on its home-court advantage against the University of Akron (6-10 overall, 1-3 MAC). The Bobcats remained flawless in these MAC play matches with back-to-back wins over the Zips on Friday and Saturday.
Friday evening’s opening match of the two-game series pitted Ohio against its third conference foe of the season after wins over both Eastern and Central Michigan last weekend. The Bobcats handled business being back at home, defeating Akron in four sets.
Ohio narrowly escaped the first set with a 25-23 win before a 25-16 win in set two to take a 2-0 match lead. Akron resisted by flipping the second set on its head with a 25-16 win in the third set to stay alive. The 25-16 theme stayed alive yet again in the fourth set, with Ohio back on top in order to secure a 3-1 match win.
Both teams took the court at The Convo yet again on Saturday, and Ohio came away with another 3-1 win to sweep the weekend. This match was much closer throughout, as Ohio won a close first set 25-21, dropped the second set 25-18 and finished off sets three and four with 25-22 and 25-20 wins.
The Bobcats were certainly given a hard fight from Akron, but walked away with two convincing wins to push their conference record to 4-0. Ohio has now cemented itself as a formidable force in the MAC through four matches.
Gentry Brown, Ohio senior outside hitter, said the Bobcats were prepared for the two-game series against the Zips.
“We always go back to how we know we can play, and we just stick to our game plan,” Brown said.
Ohio Head Coach Kenzie Brinkman is a superb game planner and always prepares her team to perform at the highest level, and that showed this weekend.
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Bailey Blair, sophomore opposite hitter, led the way for Ohio against the Zips. Blair has been the Bobcats’ star this season, and kept up her high-level play to keep Ohio perfect in the MAC this weekend.
Blair recorded 25 total kills between both matches, providing powerful firepower difficult for Akron to resist. While the kills battle was split completely even over the weekend at 106 per team, Blair’s individual prowess above the net propelled the Bobcats’ offensive attack and pushed the agenda for both wins.
Ohio is positioned very well in the MAC standings. Following both of this weekend’s wins, its 4-0 record is currently tied with Toledo for first in the conference. The Bobcats will be on the road again next Friday and Saturday for another two-game series against Bowling Green on the Falcons’ home court.
