A week after being picked as the favorite to win the conference by the 2006 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the Ohio volleyball team has a chance to prove it could also be one of the best squads in the nation.
The Bobcats, ranked No. 15 in the nation by the CSTV/AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, begin their 2006 season tomorrow against defending national champion Washington at the AVCA Showcase in Madison, Wis.
We're tired of playing against ourselves (in practice) so if we're going to play someone else
it might as well be the national champions to start off the season coach Geoff Carlston said. The AVCA Showcase is the big tournament of the year other than the national championship.
Ohio also has a second match against either No. 8 Texas or No. 9 Wisconsin Saturday depending on how they fare against the No. 3 Huskies.
If we win one match this weekend it will be big-time news Carlston said. There's not a lot of talk of Ohio playing whoever in the finals of this tournament but we like it that way. Realistically
that's the way it should be. We're that 'fourth team' by national ranking and reputation so we're using that as a motivator. No one expects us to win and we don't mind that.
Carlston said his team would not be at 100 percent, however, due to a recent injury to freshman middle Jane Sytsma, who had worked her way into the Bobcats' starting lineup.
She's actually from Madison
which is unfortunate since she will have a pretty big crowd there (at the AVCA tournament)
Carlston said. She just landed wrong and sprained her ankle pretty bad so she's on crutches right now. She won't be ready to go this weekend
for sure.
Despite the injury to Sytsma, Ohio still has 12 returning letter-winners making the trip to the tournament, including 2005 MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Savanah Parra, 2005 All-MAC Team member Stephanie Blackburn and Ohio's single-season dig leader Michaele Blackburn.
We have a really good nucleus back and a strong group of freshmen
Carlston said. The main thing about this weekend is that
no matter what happens
we're going to learn a lot about ourselves.Fine-tuning
Ohio's annual Green & White game Tuesday provided the 'Cats with one last tune up before leaving for Wisconsin.
It proved to be a sweep by the Green Team, which took all six games by the scores of 30-27, 30-24, 15-2, 30-28, 18-7 and 15-11.
Parra led all players with 59 total assists while Michaele Blackburn recorded the most digs from either side with 22. Another highlight of the match included sophomore outside hitter Whitney Maiden's match-leading 25 kills.
One of the cool things about this group is we really don't have a superstar
Carlston said. We don't have to rely on one person.
Not all of the Bobcats' preparation has taken place on the court, however. The Bobcats also spent the first two scheduled days of practice in August at Burr Oak State Park in Glouster, Ohio.
We did some team-building stuff which was great
