Oct. 9, 2010
Final Stats
Oxford, OHIO - Ohio fell on the road to Miami this evening in four sets, 25-10, 21-25, 22-25, 20-25. The loss snapped a six-match MAC winning streak on the road and a four-match winning streak against the RedHawks.
Katie Post and Sue Jacobi tied for the team lead with 13 kills apiece and Mandy Nichols added 11 for the 'Cats (12-7, 4-2). Post hit .407 for the match and Lexie Hartnett hit .500 despite only getting four kills. Jacobi had yet another double-double as she led the team in digs with 10. Nichols and Post tied for the team lead with six blocks apiece and Hartnett added five for the Green & White. As a team, Ohio finished with 12.5 blocks.
"We came out in the first set and established tempo and then from there Miami outplayed us at first, second and third contact," Head Coach Ryan Theis said. "In a match where you block over three balls a game, the down side is a lot of balls rattle off your hands. Everything they were hitting, was coming off our blocks wrong and falling the right way for them."
Ohio cruised in the first set after scoring the first three points and jumping out to a 10-1 lead. Miami cut it to six at 14-8 before Ohio scored three in a row to force a second timeout of the set by the RedHawks. Ohio continued to roll scoring eight of the next 10 points en route to an easy 25-10 win. Nichols had four kills and Jacobi, Robins and Post had two each. Ohio also picked up five team blocks and two service aces while hitting .526 in the set.
The second set started off 5-5 before Ohio fell behind 8-5. Jacobi and Hartnett picked up a pair of kills to help bring the Bobcats even at 9-9. However, Miami went back ahead 14-10 and Ohio took a timeout still down four at 16-12. The `Cats would get the set within two points on several occasions (18-16, 20-18 and 22-20) but could not draw any closer as they surrendered three of the final four points and lost 25-21.
Nichols had five kills and Jacobi added four with the team recording four more blocks but only hitting .233. Amy Raseman led Miami with three kills in the set and the RedHawks hit .306.
They did a nice job fighting for balls defensively and they deserved to win," Theis added. "They played a freshman at libero tonight who started off shaky and turned it around for them. She had a great match."
Ohio led 4-2 before Miami ran off six-straight points for an 8-4 advantage. Down 11-7, the Bobcats rallied and eventually tied and took the lead on consecutive aces by Jacobi. Ohio went ahead 15-13 before it was the RedHawks turn to rally and take a 17-15 edge. With the set knotted 18-18, Miami scored four in a row for a 22-18 lead. Two quick points for Post forced a RedHawk timeout at 22-20 but they were able to hold off the `Cats and take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-22 win.
Jacobi had six kills and Post picked up four for Ohio while Cassie Farrell had three kills and two blocks for MU and Amy Kendall had two blocks with 16 assists. The Bobcats also collected three aces in the set.
Leading 4-3, Ohio saw Miami score four in a row to take the 7-4 lead. The deficit for the `Cats eventually grew to 10-5 before Theis used his first timeout. Ohio cut the lead to two at 14-12 but Miami was undeterred and rattled off three-straight points for a five-point lead. The lead would stay at five for Miami as they took the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. Post picked up five kills and Nichols added three in the conclusive quarter.
"I wish we could have gotten the ball to the middle more," Theis said. "That is something that will need to happen more if we are to improve."
The Bobcats remain on the road next weekend with matches at Ball State on Friday night at 7 p.m. and at Toledo on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
