Oct. 1, 2010

Final Stats

ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio Volleyball lost a five-set match at home this evening to Akron, three sets to two (26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 15-17). The defeat dropped the Bobcats to 10-6, 2-1 in the MAC, one game behind the Zips (11-4, 3-0).

The contest saw Ohio's 12-game home winning streak against MAC opponents snapped, as well as the team's 11-match winning streak against MAC teams. It was the first loss to Akron since 2003 and it was the first five-set match at home against a MAC rival since October 11, 2008.

In the fifth and final set, Akron took the first three points before Ohio took five of the next six for their first lead, 5-4. Despite the shift in momentum, Akron was resilient and scored seven of the next nine points to take an 11-7 edge.

Trailing yet again, the 'Cats rattled off six of the next eight points and a kill by Katie Post tied the set 13-13. Facing match point, the junior netted another two kills to give Ohio the lead at 15-14. However, Akron took the next three points to win the match, three games to two.

“I don’t think we deserved to win the match" Head Coach Ryan Theis said. "I thought Akron deserved to win it. Seeing that point squandered away was really not that different from seeing our opportunities in the first set and in the fourth set. That was no different from what we had been doing that whole night."

Overall, Sue Jacobi led Ohio with 18 kills and four other Bobcats finished with 10 or more kills. Post had 14, Faith Robins finished with 12 and both Mandy Nichols and Lexie Hartnett ended with 10 apiece. Michelle Jantsch finished with a match-high 53 assists and hit .556 with six kills while Hartnett hit .368.

Post led Ohio with three service aces and five blocks assists and Nichols topped the team with six total blocks (three solo, three assists). Four different players recorded 10 or more digs as Jacobi and Meryl Bender had 19 digs, Jantsch had 18 and Nichols finished with 16.

The fourth set was knotted 5-5 before Akron slowly started to creep away and took a 12-8 lead which forced an Ohio timeout. The Zips continued to play well and pushed the lead to seven at 17-10. Seeing the set slip away, the 'Cats responded with 10 of the next 14 points to get within one at 21-20.

However, Akron responded with four-straight to win the set 25-20 and even the match. Nichols led Ohio with four kills and a block in the set while Akron hit .370 and out-blocked the Green & White 5-1.

“I think we had multiple opportunities to take advantage of situations and didn’t," Theis said. "I think every single player, except for maybe Meryl (Bender) missed a chance. I thought every single player had opportunities to convert points at different times and squandered them.”

Ohio scored seven of the first 10 points in the third set, five on kills, before Akron took a timeout. The score was 10-5 before the Zips rattled off four in a row to cut the deficit to one. Eventually, Akron would knot the score 13-13 before Ohio was forced to call timeout. After Akron grabbed a slight 14-13 lead, the advantage for both teams would not go beyond a point until an Akron block and kill made it 23-21.

After an Ohio timeout, the Cats' scored four-consecutive points, the last two on aces by Post to steal the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Jantsch had three kills, one block and 11 assists, Jacobi had five kills and a helper and Hartnett also added five kills and a block. Ohio hit .300 as a team, their best performance of the match.

In the second set, Ohio trailed 4-2 but ran off five successive points to take a 7-4 lead. After a Post kill made it 12-8, Akron took its first timeout. However, the stoppage didn't pay off as Ohio added two more points for a 14-8 lead. It remained a six point advantage and when the score reached 20-14 after a kill by Hartnett, Akron used their second timeout of the set. The lead grew to as many as eight after a Jacobi kill and Ohio won the set 25-18 to even the match.

Post had five kills and a block, Nichols had one kill and four blocks, and Jantsch had two kills and 10 assists.

Down 7-3 in the first set, Ohio fought back to get the score to 7-6. After that point, Akron went on a run, taking six of the next seven points for a 13-7 lead. Down 17-10, the 'Cats earned four-straight points to trim the lead. Still trailing 20-16, the Bobcats would go on a run where they took six of the next eight points.

After a Jacobi kill evened things at 22, Ohio took the lead on an attack error but gave it right back on a service error, the first of three at the end of the first set. The set would go to extra points before Akron took it 28-26. The dropped set broke a string of 13-consecutive set wins against MAC opponents at home.

Post had four kills, three blocks and an ace while hitting .429. Ohio held the edge in kills (15-14) and total team blocks (5-2) but committed five service errors. Akron's Jackie Goleman had five kills and two blocks.

Ohio will play Buffalo tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the Convo.