Louisville, Ky. - The Ohio volleyball team fell to 14th-ranked Louisville 3-0 (30-20, 30-26, 30-26) to finish second at the Courtyard by Marriott Airport Classic.
"Louisville is a Final Four-caliber team," Head Coach Geoff Carlston said. "It's a team a lot of people are predicting to go to the Final Four, certainly the Elite Eight.
"We're not going to see a team bigger than Louisville. They're about as big as it gets so I think to compete offensively and work on hitting around blocks prepares us better for our conference."
Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) paced the Bobcat attack with 10 kills with Julia Winkfield (Newark, Ohio) adding eight kills on a .350 hitting percentage. Jenna Gaughran (Centerville, Ohio) was very efficient with her time putting down five kills on six attempts for a .833 hitting percentage.
Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) set the Bobcat attack to the tone of 30 assists and matched a season-best with eight digs. Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Ohio with 15 digs with sister Stephanie adding eight. Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) led the Bobcats with two blocks.
Ohio fell behind 6-3 early in the first game but scored three straight points to even the score at six. The Cardinals then jumped back in the lead but Ohio remained within striking distance at 23-18. Louisville clamped down on the Bobcat attack the rest of the game taking the opening frame 30-20.
The Bobcats and Cardinals battled back and forth in the second game with the teams exchanging points until 8-8. Louisville then went on a 7-2 run to go up 15-10 over Ohio. The Bobcats came back later in the game scoring four consecutive points to close the gap to 21-19.
Ohio cut the Cardinal lead to one point at 25-24 following a Winkfield kill. The Bobcats would get no closer as Louisville scored five of the game's final seven points to take the second game 30-26. .
Ohio started strong in the third game behind the serving of Winkfield. The Cardinals countered with a 5-0 run to go up 5-2 and later pushed the lead to 11-4. The Bobcats would not go quietly despite Louisville stretching its advantage to a game-high nine points at 25-16. Ohio closed the lead to 29-25 following Stephanie Blackburn's 10th kill but the comeback was not enough as the Cardinals took the deciding third game 30-26.
"At times, we played very well, defended very well and they had a tough time stopping us," Carlston said. "We did a lot of good things against them. In the end, they were just a little stronger team than we were and a lot of that has to do with experience. I think if we play them later in the year, it's a little different match."
Stephanie and Michaele Blackburn were both named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the tournament.
The Bobcats fall to 5-1 on the year with the loss while the Cardinals improve to 3-0.
The defeat is not a lost cause as Ohio can only learn from the match, Carlston said.
"I think playing a team the caliber of Louisville automatically makes you better as long as you compete, which I think we did," Carlston said. "We'll get better from playing them because they are so physical and we had to play a little smarter to stay in the match."
The Bobcats will be in action next when they compete in the Albany Tournament next weekend. Ohio will open the tourney against Penn Friday at 2 p.m. followed by Iona at 4:30 p.m.
