Sept. 5, 2008
Box Score
PITTSBURG, Pa. - Junior outside hitter Ellen Herman and sophomore left-side mate Sue Jacobi shared match-high honors with 12 kills each as the Ohio University volleyball team swept Binghamton (25-22, 25-20, 25-8) in the opener of the Pitt Classic on Friday. The victory marked first-year head coach Ryan Theis' first at the helm of a collegiate program.
Jacobi's 12 kills marked a career high, surpassing the 10 she put down against San Diego on Sept. 1, 2007, while Herman's dozen gave her a double-digit kill total for the third match in a row. The duo also posted season highs for hitting percentage, as Jacobi (Louisville, Ky.) checked in at a .391 clip and Herman (Toledo, Ohio) finished at .281. Junior middle blockers Meghan Simons (Lancaster, Ohio) and Jane Sytsma (Madison, Wis.) both chipped in with five kills, the former's coming on a .400 hitting percentage, and freshman Katie Post (Streamwood, Ill.) had three in the victory.
"We were a little reactive, rather than proactive, at first, but we got into a rhythm as the match went along," Theis said. "We started getting block touches and putting pressure on them from the service line, and those were the keys to the match. We still haven't shown what we're capable of yet, especially in terms of energy level, which is an encouraging sign as we move forward."
Ohio (1-3) won the service-ace battle by a count of 5-1, as sophomore setter Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan.) ripped a career-high three in the opener. Jantsch also recorded a match-high 32 assists, while setting the Bobcats to a season-best .292 hitting percentage.
The Bobcats also had a 9.0-4.0 edge over Binghamton in the blocks department, as Simons' five rejections paved the way for the advantage. Herman and Jantsch both added three total blocks, while Sytsma contributed a pair. Sophomore defensive specialist Meryl Bender (Yorktown, Ind.) tallied a team-high seven digs, and junior libero Sarah Petrulis (Westlake, Ohio) had six, to help limit BU to a .105 hitting percentage.
Down 8-3 early in the opening set, the Bobcats took off on a 4-0 to draw within one on a kill by Jantsch. Ohio found itself facing a 15-11 deficit midway through the set, but ripped off a 3-0 run on the strength of kills by Post and Herman to cut the lead to 15-14 and force the Bearcats into a timeout. A double block by Simons and Jacobi drew Ohio even for the first time at 18-18, and Jantsch fired consecutive aces to propel the Bobcats to a 21-19 lead and prompt Binghamton's second timeout. A Simons solo block forced set point at 24-21, and Ohio sealed the opening-frame victory on a Bearcats' service error two just minutes later. Jacobi paced the Ohio offense with four kills in the stanza, while Simons, who recorded a pair of her own kills, led the defense with two blocks.
Herman and Sytsma each posted early kills to help Ohio jump out to a 6-3 lead in the second set. Jacobi and Simons recorded back-to-back kills to push the Green & White out to a 10-6 advantage before play took on a see-saw flow. The Bobcats held a 20-17 lead after a pair of Simons kills and a BU service error, and consecutive kills from Jacobi brought on set point for Ohio at 24-19, and she clinched the game two rallies later with her third-straight kill to send the Green & White into the break with a 2-0 lead. Herman and Jacobi, the Bobcats' two outside hitters in the set, combined for nine kills in the set, while Jantsch recorded 14 assists en route to setting the offense to a .364 hitting percentage in the frame. Ohio never led by more than five points in the gritty second-set win, but didn't let Binghamton within less than three after the Bearcats' called timeout at the 10-6 mark.
Jacobi maintained her momentum during halftime, recording Ohio's first three kills and teaming up with Simons on a block to help put the Bobcats up by a count of 6-2 in the early going. The Bobcats went up seven, 11-4, after Herman recorded a kill and a block solo on consecutive rallies, and Binghamton called a timeout one point later after Sytsma and Jantsch combined for a block to put the Green & White in front by a score of 12-4. Ohio ripped off a 4-0 run out of the stoppage to push the advantage to 16-4. Senior middle blocker McKenzie Mauck (Muncie, Ind.) shot back-to-back kills off the Binghamton block and Herman collected her third kill of the set to force Binghamton into its second timeout with the score 19-5, and Ohio took six of the last nine points of the match to secure Theis' first win as a head coach, closing out the action on a kill by Post that ricocheted off the BU block. Solid for the second set in a row, the tandem of Herman and Jacobi combined for eight kills in the clincher, while Post and Mauck each had a pair as the Bobcats hit a season-high .524 in the final frame. Ohio's defense was also stout in the third set, forcing the Bearcats into a -.304 hitting clip with 6.0 total blocks, including three apiece from Herman and Simons.
"It feels good to get that first win, but I'm more happy for the players," Theis said. "We were hungry to get a win, and this will go a long way to reaffirming with the players that we will be successful when we play our game."
The Bobcats will be back in action at 5 p.m. ET today, wrapping up the first day of the Pitt Classic against Eastern Kentucky. Live stats will be available via www.ohiobobcats.com.
