Ohio (7-14, 5-4 Mid-American Conference) came out victorious against Eastern Michigan (10-12, 2-7 MAC) in their second outing. Ohio played a much better game this time, with the game only going to four sets and Eastern Michigan getting blown out in the first set. With this win, Ohio officially has a positive conference record, propelling it from one of the worst teams in the MAC to the fifth seed.
“(We are) enjoying this one but then continuing to focus on the things that I think we’re pretty special at, and that's our offensive weapons, defense, getting good block edges and then getting a bunch of digs,“ Ohio head coach Kenzie Brinkman said.
After how close all of the sets were in the first matchup, Ohio shocked Eastern Michigan with a huge offensive output. The Bobcats had 16 total kills in the first set, along with four service aces, three coming from junior Emily Waddell. Eastern Michigan struggled to get anything going as the constant offensive pressure from sophomore Sierra Evans, freshman Bailey Blair and junior Torre Kildow stifled the team. Ohio would go on to take the first set 25-15, attempting to set a tone for the match.
“Emily Waddell served the lights out," Brinkman said. “When we go on runs like that, and they’re out of system constantly, it’s really easy to play.”
With the huge momentum Ohio had coming off a 10-point set victory, it opened the second set with three points and took control of the game from there. The Bobcats held onto a three-point lead for most of the set, with more huge plays coming from the team. Ohio junior Caroline Curran had her second service ace of the game while Blair, Kildow and junior Gentry Brown continued to rack up kills. In what amounted to a team effort, Ohio would take the second set with a score of 25-21.
“Caroline has been money for us,“ Brinkman said. "She is an awesome right back defender. She’s kind of our outside hero right now, I would say there’s not a lot of good right back defenders in there, and she’s exceptional.”
Ohio was halted in the third set though, as Eastern Michigan adapted to Ohio’s offense and opened the set with a 5-0 run, with numerous kills and a service ace putting Ohio in a hole it had to climb out of. Nevertheless, it was able to dig itself out and make the set an extended one, taking the lead with a score of 25-24 after it looked like they were close to defeat. Ohio crumbled at the top of the steps as Eastern Michigan scored three unanswered points, including two attack errors from Ohio. This propelled Eastern Michigan to take the set with a score of 27-25, the only one it won.
“We had fought back three set points in that set, so I was really surprised it had gotten to that point,“ Brinkman said. "I was really proud of our team for fighting back.”
Ohio cleaned up in the fourth set, taking the game. In what looked like it could be another five-set game, Eastern Michigan was up by a score of 16-12, as it kept pulling ahead of Ohio. Ohio was able to rally, and with Eastern Michigan up 17-15, Ohio scored seven straight points, completely shutting out Eastern Michigan and taking a commanding five-point lead. This run propelled Ohio to take complete control of the rest of the set and win with a score of 25-18.
“We just played cleaner minus serving,“ coach Brinkman said. "We were able to play the ugly points a little bit.”
With its stretch of home games done, Ohio will travel to Ball State looking to continue its win streak as the season reaches its end. The Bobcats are on a roll right now and show no signs of stopping.
