The Ohio volleyball team continued its winning season by sweeping Mid-American Conference opponents Buffalo and Kent State at home last weekend. Ohio improved to 17-2 overall and a perfect 9-0 in conference play.
Our passing and blocking were great all weekend
outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn said. Our defense played a big part in our two wins.
During its first match of the weekend, Ohio beat Buffalo (7-15, 0-9 MAC) in three games, 30-17, 30-15, 30-15.
We had a game plan coming into the match and we followed it well middle blocker Melissa Griffin said.
The Bobcats took early control of game one with four straight points before stretching the lead to 11-3. The Bulls were not able to close the gap and Ohio won the game on a Buffalo error.
Game two was much of the same as Ohio continued to dominate, leading 6-0 before an error allowed the Bulls their first point. Buffalo struggled and allowed Ohio a 16-4 advantage. Ohio kept the lead and finished off game two with a kill by outside hitter Julia Winkfield.
Buffalo played more aggressively during the third game and kept the score close at 9-7, but the Bobcats began to widen the gap with an 11-3 run to take the game to 20-10. Ohio never looked back from there, winning game three and the match on another error by the Bulls.
Griffin led the Bobcats' attack with 14 kills and a career-high .778 attack percentage. Outside hitter Ashley Elliott and Winkfield added eight and seven kills, respectively.
Libero Michaele Blackburn recorded 18 digs and setter Briana Adamovsky tallied 43 assists.
We passed the ball well and that's what we needed to do
coach Geoff Carlston said. We mixed up the offense well
which was important in the victory.
Ohio beat Kent State (8-11, 5-7 MAC) in three games -30-19, 30-15, 30-24 -for its second win of the weekend.
During game one, Ohio and Kent State battled closely to a 7-7 score before the Bobcats went on a 10-3 run. The Golden Flashes were unable to close the gap and the Bobcats won the game.
Game two saw the Bobcats take an early 11-2 lead that Kent State could not approach during the game. A Stephanie Blackburn kill ended the game at 30-15.
Kent State fought back in game three and took the first point. The game continued to be a point-by-point battle -the Bobcats led by just one point, 13-12, near the middle of the match -but some aggressive attacks by Ohio and a few errors by the Golden Flashes allowed Ohio to take a 22-18 lead. Another kill by Stephanie Blackburn ended the game and match.
Stephanie Blackburn recorded 13 kills with a .647 attack percentage and Griffin added 10 kills during the win.
Griffin and Elliott each tallied six blocks and Adamovsky added 43 assists. Michaele Blackburn led the team with 15 digs and Stephanie Blackburn added 14.
Ohio has now won 22 straight games and has not lost in The Convo since Sept. 28, 2002.
The team will play a mid-week conference match on the road at Marshall at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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Abbey Smith
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Ohio volleyball players Melissa Griffin, left, Holly Schetzsle, middle, and Julia Winkfield celebrate after scoring a point late during the second game of a 3-0 victory against Kent State Saturday night in the Convo. The team also defeated Buffalo Friday
