As the Ohio volleyball team has raced to an 8-2 start -with a win against a ranked team for only the second time in school history -sisters Stephanie and Michaele Blackburn have helped lead the Bobcat charge.
Stephanie, a freshman outside hitter, has wasted no time in acclimating herself to college volleyball. She was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week after recording 42 kills and 34 digs during last weekend's Colorado State Classic.
If you looked from the outside
knowing nothing about volleyball nobody would guess she's a freshman outside hitter Julia Winkfield said.
Michaele, a sophomore libero who was named to the MAC All-Freshman team last year, recorded 40 digs during three matches at the Michigan State Invitational. However, coach Geoff Carlston said he is always trying to improve Michaele's defensive play.
She needs to get more digs
Carlston said.
The sisters, who won a state championship in 2002 at Ursuline Academy near Cincinnati, said they have had to adjust to playing together on the college level.
In high school
we were a lot more focused on one another
Michaele said. Now
the focus is on the team.
The fast starts of Stephanie and Michaele have not surprised their teammates, though.
Everybody expected consistency and confidence from them
Winkfield said. We all expected them to play pretty well.
Carlston said he has high hopes for both players.
When we recruited Stephanie
we knew she had something special
Carlston said. She still has a lot of room to grow
she's very coachable
