Aug. 28, 2010
Stats | Ohio Volleyball vs. North Dakota State 
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University volleyball team rallied to knock off North Dakota State this afternoon, 3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-7). Sue Jacobi led the Bobcat attack with a career-high 29 kills.
"I give our team a ton of credit," Head Coach Ryan Theis said. "We played great in sets four and five against [North Dakota State] and that really shows the determination and grit of this team."
With the match tied at two games apiece, Ohio jumped out to a 6-1 lead on two attack errors, two Jacobi kills and two aces by Michelle Jantsch. Ohio still led by five, 10-5, before a NDSU attack error, a kill by Jacobi, an ace from Nicole Staverman and kills from Katie Post to end the match for a Green & White victory. The 'Cats hit a match-high .467 during the fifth and final set.
Trailing two sets to one, the Bobcats grabbed a 13-11 lead midway through the fourth set and still led 19-17 when they strung together three successive points to grab their biggest advantage of the set. Kills from Post, Jacobi and an ace from Staverman moved Ohio out to a 22-17 lead and a NDSU service error followed by kills from Jacobi and Mandy Nichols evened the match, 2-2. Seven Bobcats had seven kills in the set, paced by Jacobi's six.
Jacobi finished with 30 points (29 kills, .328 hitting percentage) and Post finished with 16.5 points (12 kills). Nichols added six kills while Jantsch had a match-high 44 assists. She and Jacobi paced the Bobcats with 14 and 12 digs apiece. Post led Ohio with two block solos and Jantsch, along with Staverman, recorded three service aces. Meryl Bender set a career-high with 18 digs and matched her career-high with five assists.
"Obviously, Sue was outstanding today with her 29 kills," Theis added. "In a match where aces and blocks were difficult to come by we needed as many points from her as possible and she delivered. Also, even though it didn't show on the score sheet, Meryl served well during our rallies and also defended well today for us. Her command on the floor as a leader was clearly evident."
The Bobcats took the first set 25-18 after hitting .344 and getting six kills from Jacobi and five kills from Post. Ohio slowly pulled away through the set and took their largest lead at the very end at 24-17 on block assists from Post and Jantsch.
The Bison took sets two and three to gain an advantage in the match. All-Summit League performers Lauren McLaughlin and Brynn Joki each had three kills in the second set, before each duplicating the feat in the third set and getting five kills from Brooke VandenBergh. McLaughlin and VandenBergh each paced the Bison with 10 kills each over the five sets.
"North Dakota State played really well in the second and third set," Theis said. "They forced us into bad positions and we struggled with that. They're a really good team. They were undefeated (34-0) in their conference the last two years and they have their hitters and setter back from last season's team. They played today like they were in mid-season form."
The Bobcats return to the court tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. against Louisville at Cardinal Arena.
