Nov. 22, 2009

Final Stats

TOLEDO, Ohio - The Bobcats took home their sixth conference tournament title in seven years with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 16-25 and 25-19) victory over the Western Michigan Broncos on Sunday. Sarah Petrulis was named Tournament MVP and eclipsed 1,000 career digs as the `Cats hit .293 while holding the Broncos to .180 in the match.

"It's terrific," said head coach Ryan Theis. "I couldn't be happier for the seniors. It couldn't go to a better group, and I'm thrilled for them."

The match got off to a good start for the Bobcats as they took an early 5-2 lead on the strength of solid defensive play and some impressive kills by Ellen Herman, Sue Jacobi and Faith Robins (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kans.) then fired a service ace to give Ohio a 6-2 lead, forcing the Broncos to take an early timeout.

The `Cats proceeded to stretch the lead as far as 9-2, as Jantsch's consistent serving and some solid, mistake-free play by the Green and White forced No. 2 seed Western Michigan to use up another timeout.

The Broncos (23-11) came back with a nice three-point run of their own, but Megan Simons broke it up with an impressive kill. She and Jacobi combined for a block on the next point, pushing Ohio's advantage to 11-5.

Jantsch had a nice tip-kill for the `Cats in the middle of the set and then combined with Katie Post (Streamwood, Ill.) for a block that made it 16-8 in favor of Ohio. Western was able to win a few points in a row before Ohio re-took the serve at 17-10 on a kill by Jacobi that resonated throughout the arena. The Broncos accumulated a few more first-set points before Jacobi (Louisville, Ky.) put them away with a beautifully-placed kill down the line.

Thanks to six kills by Jacobi (.750 hitting in the first set) and a team hitting percentage of .341, the Bobcats cruised to a 25-19 first-set victory. Jantsch accumulated 13 assists and one service ace for Ohio, who posted two total blocks. Senior Sarah Petrulis (Westlake, Oh.) added seven digs, putting her over 1,000 in her stellar career. She posted 28 on the day, which gives her a career total of 1,023, ranking her ninth on Ohio's All-Time list.

"Hats off to Sarah Petrulis," said Theis. "I think she is the most underrated libero in the league and I couldn't be happier to give her that MVP award."

The Broncos battled back hard at the outset of the second set, matching Ohio for most of the way. Post and Jacobi came up with a huge block to make it 9-7 (Ohio leading), which Jacobi immediately followed up with a solo block of her own. Just like that the `Cats took at 10-7 lead at an important juncture of the second set. A few points later Herman connected on an attack that was dug successfully by Western, but unfortunately it was sent right back to her. Herman hammered the second ball even harder than the first, with the attempted dig finding its way into the fourth row of seats at the SeaGate Centre. She connected on two more just moments later, giving her eight kills at this point in the match.

The `Cats (26-5) earned service possession at 16-13 in the second and looked to extend their advantage. Jaime Gotham of Western was having none of it, however, and came up with a big solo block to earn back the serve. Ohio won it right back on another kill by Jacobi (Louisville, Ky.) and Western's Katie Eberling followed up with an attack error, leading to the Broncos using a timeout at 18-14.

Meryl Bender put together a nice serving run of five points, putting the `Cats in front 22-14 until the Broncos briefly disturbed the rhythm with a solid kill by Allyson Doyle, her fifth of the evening. Western Michigan put together an impressive run to make it 23-18, but the Bobcats came out of a timeout and took the next two points, winning the second set by a score of 25-18.

Herman accumulated six kills in the second set and Petrulis added eight more digs to pace the Green and White. The Ohio defense did a tremendous job in the second set, holding Western Michigan to a .081 hitting percentage.

The Broncos came out very fast at the outset of the third stanza, grabbing an early 5-1 lead on a four-point service run by junior outside hitter Allyson Doyle. Western kept up the impressive run, extending the lead to 10-4 until Simons and Herman combined for back-to-back kills. With a 14-10 lead, WMU's Allyson Doyle connected on her sixth and seventh kills of the night, which led to an Ohio timeout.

Western Michigan proved to be too much in the third set, as they powered their way to a 25-16 victory on the strength of four kills by Michelle Moore and team hitting of .407.

Ohio jumped out to a quick start in the fourth set, amassing an early 3-1 lead. Post and Jacobi combined for a huge block which was followed immediately by a service ace from Nicole Staverman (Edgewood, Ky.). The Broncos won the next point but Post was able to slam home her fifth kill of the match to make it a 5-2 Ohio lead. The Broncos threatened to even the scores up at eight apiece but Post would not allow it, coming up with an important solo block right at the center of the net. She followed it up just a few points later by hitting a kill hard enough that it deflected off Western's vaunted defensive front and went sailing out of bounds.

The Bobcats really grabbed the momentum of the fourth set while leading 14-11. They won a very long volley just a few points before and followed it up with a block by Simons and Robins at a crucial juncture in the match. This forced Western to take a timeout with a 15-11 disadvantage.

Ohio ended the match on a four-point serving streak by Jantsch, capping it off with a two dramatic back-to-back blocks, the first by Simons and Herman and the second by Simons and Robins.

Herman finished with 23 kills on .247 hitting, Jacobi contributed 16 and Jantsch continued her incredible weekend of assists by adding 54.

"Our goal was to hold them under .200," said Theis. "We thought if we had them under .200 we would win and I guess we were right. I didn't know that we could get that number (.293 hitting) offensively, against this good of a defense."

The Bobcats earned an automatic berth in the 2009 NCAA Tournament with their victory today. The 2009 NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be held on Sunday, November 29.