Sept. 22, 2006
Box Score
Akron, Ohio - The 20th ranked Ohio (9-3, 1-0 MAC) volleyball team kicked off the MAC season with a 3-0 (30-14, 30-17, 30-17) win over Akron (7-8, 1-1 MAC).
Five players paced the Ohio attack, led by Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) with 13 kills. Jane Sytsma (Madison, Wis.) recorded 12 kills and three blocks. Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 11 kills, one ace serve and one block. Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) and Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) had 10 kills apiece. Griffin also had two blocks.
Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) played a strong all-around game, setting Ohio's attack with 50 assists. She added 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Ohio with 20 digs while Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) contributed 16 digs marking her sixth double-double of the season.
"It was really important for us to get out on the right foot," said Head Coach Geoff Carlston. "I thought our players came in and did a good job on offense. The distribution was even all across and we outdug them by a decent amount. I'm really happy about how we played because we didn't let up".
Megan Rodriguez had a team-best 13 kills and 14 digs for Akron. Colleen Dryja added 12 kills and Kara Smith totaled 20 assists and 10 digs.
The Bobcats controlled the match throughout, starting 7-3 in the opening game and never looking back. Ohio gradually increased its lead to 13 at 26-13. Two late kills by Stephanie Blackburn gave Ohio a 30-14 game-one win.
Game two started with four ties until the Bobcats went on an 8-2 run to lead by eight at 14-6. Ohio connected on six consecutive kills to pull up by 11 at 21-10 and come away with the 30-17 game-two win.
Ohio never gave Akron a chance in game three holding the Zips by 11 points after the 21-10 mark.
Ohio hit .326 for the match while Akron hit .049. The Bobcats had a 60-25 advantage in kills and 6 aces to the Zips zero. Defensively, Ohio outdug Akron 69-56.
The Bobcats travel to Buffalo to face the Bulls on Saturday.
