Ohio (11-6 overall, 4-2 Mid-American Conference) was unable to extend its seven-game winning streak during its two-match road trip to Bowling Green State University (13-4 overall, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) over the weekend. The Bobcats fell flat in both of those matches, and now sit at third place in the MAC after being in a tie for first heading into the weekend.
Competition was high right out of the gate in the weekend’s opening match on Friday evening. Bowling Green was able to scrape out a tight 3-2 win over the Bobcats. The Falcons pounced on Ohio in the first set with a 25-13 win before the Bobcats recovered with two straight resilient wins in sets two and three, taking both 27-25.
Bowling Green came out on top of yet another tight one in set four, taking that one 25-23 and sealing the win in set five with a 15-11 victory. The Bobcats let a 2-1 match lead get away on Friday, and kept Bowling Green’s hopes of jumping them in the MAC standings alive.
Both teams took the court of the Stroh Center yet again on Saturday with Bowling Green hopeful to finish the weekend 2-0. The Falcons came out as the clear aggressor in the match, winning three straight sets 25-17, 25-16 and 25-20. The Bobcats were unable to punch back against Bowling Green’s dominance in that match and were swept.
Bowling Green’s hopes of moving ahead of Ohio in the MAC standings came to fruition with Saturday's win, as its 2-0 weekend pushed it to second place in the conference. The winless weekend for the Bobcats dropped them to third place in the conference, where they are now tied with Miami at 4-2 in MAC play.
Player spotlight
Despite the road trip’s disappointing results, sophomore opposite hitter Bailey Blair was a bright spot for the Bobcats. She tallied 24 kills between both matches as she tried to will Ohio to finish more successfully than they ultimately did.
Although Blair’s efforts fell short, her consistency this season is one of the key reasons why Ohio was riding a seven-game win streak before the weekend’s disappointing result. Blair will surely be a main contributor the rest of the season as Ohio aims to bounce back from thie two-game skid.
The setback could light a fire under Ohio, but regardless of the disappointment this weekend resulted in, the Bobcats are still positioned well in the MAC and hold a respectable 11-6 overall record. The Bobcats are back at home next weekend for an opportunity to rebound from these losses in a two-game series against Ball State University.
