Oct. 14, 2006
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - In front of 1,121 fans Saturday night the No. 21 Ohio volleyball team swept Akron (30-17, 30-15, 30-17) to stay undefeated in the MAC at 8-0 and run its home court winning streak to 42 matches.
Ohio is on a nine match winning streak and has 40 consecutive wins against conference opponents during the regular season. Ohio's last conference loss was to Akron in 2003.
The Bobcats are 16-3 on the season and Akron is 7-15 overall and 1-7 in the MAC.
Three players had double kills figures as Ohio outhit Akron .417 to .078. Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) registered a match-high 17 kills on .452 hitting. Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) had 14 kills on a team-best .591 hitting percentage. Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) chipped 12 kills and earned one solo block.
Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) set Ohio's offense with 41 assists bringing her career total to 2,506 and placing her fifth on Ohio's all-time list. In addition, Parra chipped in 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Parra also had two ace serves.
Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) had nine digs and Janice Matacic (Liberty Township, Ohio) had eight. Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) added seven digs and two ace serves.
Brionna Patterson had a team-high 12 kills for Akron and Abby Varterasian totaled 13 assists. Kim Horn and Megan Rodriguez each had eight digs.
Ohio outdug Akron 53 to 35 and had six ace serves to Akron's two.
Akron opened the frame with a quick 5-0 run forcing an Ohio timeout. Ohio came back with a kill by Griffin for their first point of the night and the teams traded points until the Bobcats used an 8-2 run to tie the match nine all. The game was tied at 10, 11 and 12 points until Ohio took a 13-12 lead and never looked back. A late 9-0 run sealed an Ohio win, 30-17.
Ohio took an early lead in game two pulling out to a 14-4 start led by Andersen and Stephanie Blackburn with two kills apiece. The Bobcats outhit the Zips .485 to .094 in game two led by Griffin with a .750 hitting percentage. She had six kills and the Bobcats won game two, 30-15.
The Zips opened game three with a 4-1 lead until a 6-0 Ohio run put the Bobcats in front, 6-4. Ohio kept the lead throughout. Herman had seven kills and Griffin had four as Ohio closed game three 30-17.
The Bobcats continue their homestand next weekend when they host Western Michigan, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. and Northern Illinois, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m.
