Oct. 11, 2008
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ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University volleyball team earned a thrilling five-set (18-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-12, 15-11) win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday night behind a career-high 14 kills from senior outside hitter Whitney Maiden and sophomore setter Michelle Jantsch's third double-double of the season.
Maiden (Nelsonville, Ohio) recorded her second-straight double-digit kill performance in the victory, finishing with 14 on 37 swings en route to a 17.0-point night, all marking career highs. The Bobcats' duo of junior middle blockers were both also offensive forces on the night, as Meghan Simons (Lancaster, Ohio) and Jane Sytsma (Madison, Wis.) registered a dozen kills apiece, the latter on .346 hitting, to help spur Ohio to a 60-54 advantage over EMU. Senior opposite hitter Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) also put down 12 kills on Saturday, giving Ohio four players with double-figure kill totals for the second time this season, and the first since the win over Syracuse on Sept. 13.
"We had to be very patient and manufacture a lot of points tonight," Ohio head coach Ryan Theis said. "Eastern Michigan did a great job with their game plan tonight. We really came through in the late stages. The fans were a huge boost, and we battled through to get a great home win."
Jantsch handed out a match-high 44 assists on the night, as the Green & White hit .236 on the night, including a .297 clip in the three sets it won.
Sytsma also chalked up a match-high eight blocks, just one shy of her career high, to pace the Bobcats to a 15.0-7.0 edge in that department on Saturday. Simons and Jantsch both recorded five total blocks, equaling the latter's career best, while sophomore outside hitter Sue Jacobi (Louisville, Ky.) tallied two block solos on the way to a trio of rejections on the night. Andersen also chipped in with three, and Maiden had a pair in the victory.
Ohio's defense didn't all come at the net against EMU, however, as the Bobcats' back-row unit posted a season-high 74 digs, their most since collecting 80 in the 2007 regular-season finale. Senior defensive specialist Molly Mangan (Claire, Ill.) led the way with a career-best 20, marking Ohio's first 20-dig effort of the season, while Jantsch completed the sixth double-double of her career with a personal-best 18 digs, bettering her previous career high by five. Junior libero Sarah Petrulis (Westlake, Ohio) finished the night with 16 digs, her eighth double-digit showing of the year, and Maiden had a half dozen to represent yet another career high.
The Bobcats' defensive effort limited Eastern Michigan to a .135 hitting percentage on the night, including a -.017 mark in the final two sets.
Ohio trailed, 3-1, early in the deciding fifth set, but rattled off a 5-0 run, keyed by a pair of kills from Andersen, to take a 6-3 lead that it would not relinquish. Sytsma had three blocks in the frame, as the Bobcats posted 5.0 as a team and recorded 14 digs in the clincher.
"This was perhaps our grittiest match of the year, and we answered the call," Theis said. "There were some phenomenal individual performances, but we can look back on this win and certainly say it was a total team effort. Every player who stepped on the court contributed in some positive way, which is what you need to win matches during the conference season."
Ohio will hit the road again next weekend for matches at Toledo and Ball State on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both contests are scheduled to commence at 7 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available via www.ohiobobcats.com.
