Sept. 12, 2009

Final Stats

ATHENS, Ohio - A solid hitting effort lifted the Ohio Bobcats (6-2) to their first home victory of 2009 with a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-17, 25-20) of Eastern Kentucky (0-9) on day two of the Hampton Inn Invitational.

The Bobcats hit .333 as a team for the match, with 42 kills overall. Senior Jane Sytsma (Madison, Wis.) led Ohio with a .444 hitting percentage (10 kills, 18 attempts). Fellow senior Ellen Herman (Toldeo, Ohio) tallied 15 kills for the match, hitting .306 and accounting for a team season-high 20.5 points.

Coming off a five-set thriller against Indiana the prior evening, the Bobcats took the reins early, controlling possession and finishing off the first set with a trio of consecutive service aces from junior setter Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kan.). The Green and White finished with eight service aces on the match.

Ohio's defense held Eastern Kentucky to just four kills and forced seven errors to leave the Colonels with a hitting percentage of -.107 for the first set. EKU managed to hit just -.010 for the match.

The Bobcat's 25.0 points as team in the first set marked a season high for Ohio, who came into the weekend averaging just over 17.0 points per set. Jantsch, who is working her way into the top five all-time in assists at Ohio, led the Bobcats with 28 of the team's 36 assists on the afternoon.

Senior Sarah Petrulis (Westlake, Ohio) finished with 14 digs in the match, bringing her season total to 730, just 30 shy of Molly Mangan on the all-time career record list in rally scoring rules.

The Colonels were held to just 24 kills as a team. Sophomore Hannah Groudle led the way with nine kills, while senior Lindsey Loeschler and freshman Toni Michalski combined for eight.

Ohio will face Delaware later this evening at 7 p.m.

For more information about the Hampton Inn Invitational, please visit the Tournament Central page.