Sept. 25, 2010
Final Stats
Mount Pleasant, Mich. - Ohio Volleyball had to fight back on a handful of occasions and its resiliency paid off with a exasperating 3-2 triumph at preseason MAC favorite Central Michigan, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11.
The first set started off poorly for Ohio as it fell behind 4-0 and trailed by as many as seven at 12-5. However, Nicole Staverman started a rally and her two aces during a five-point run cut the CMU lead to 12-10. That seemed to spark the 'Cats as they took eight of the next ten points for an 18-16 lead (two Sue Jacobi kills, one kill each for Lexie Hartnett and Michelle Jantsch). Just as the tide had seemingly turned, CMU battled back and took six of the next eight for a 22-20 lead. Down 24-21, Ohio saved two set-points to make the score 24-23 but a service error gave the Chips a valuable 1-0 lead in the match.
Things started off evenly in the second set with the teams tied 4-4. However, CMU grabbed four of the next five points to take a lead at 8-5. Down 12-10, Ohio saw the Chips run off five-straight points for a 17-10 advantage. The resilient Bobcats took ten of the next 12 to claw back in the set (a kill by Faith Robins, two from Mandy Nichols and a kill and ace from Jacobi) and take the lead at 20-19. A CMU point tied the set once more but the Bobcats took four of the next five points for a 24-21 lead. Successive CMU tallies forced an Ohio timeout but a Jacobi kill held off the rally and evened the match 1-1.
The third set was tied 5-5, before Ohio ran off four points in a row for a 9-5 lead. CMU trimmed the score to 10-9 but the 'Cats responded with a quick flurry to take a 14-10 lead. Leading 17-12, Ohio saw four-straight points go the other way to cut the lead to 17-16 and force a timeout. CMU would tie the match at 18 but Ohio maintained an edge and led 21-19. Four-successive points by the Chips made it 23-21 before a second Ohio timeout. Ohio got a couple points back and was serving down 24-23, but a kill from Lauren Krupsky gave the home team a 2-1 lead in the match.
A back-and-forth fourth set saw Ohio go up three and force a break in the action. The run continued with another point to take a 14-10 lead. An ace from Meryl Bender bumped the Ohio edge in the set to 19-14 but CMU sliced the deficit to two at 23-21. After a timeout by the Green & White, a Jacobi kill inched the team closer to evening the match. However, two Chip points forced another timeout before it was Jacobi, once again, killing a point for the fourth-set win.
Set five turned out to be the least anti-climactic of the evening. Tied 4-4, kills from Hartnett, Jacobi and a CMU error pushed the Bobcat advantage to three points before a timeout was called. The lead grew to 10-5 and Mandy Nichols' thunderous kill ended the match in fine fashion.
Jacobi led the way for Ohio with 17 kills and recorded another double-double with 10 digs. She, along with Post and Hartnett all blocked five attempts to tie for the team lead. Post and Nichols each also added 13 kills and the two of them, along with Hartnett all scored 11.0 points or more. Janstch finished with a team-high 47 assists and Bender had a team-high 12 digs.
As a team, the 'Cats had 11.5 blocks and 10 service aces (three by Staverman, two for Nichols and Bender, three players with one each). Ohio's best hitting percentage came in the fourth set when it hit .378. The team also held the Chips to a .100 hitting percentage in the third set and a .071 hitting percentage in the fifth and final set.
The 'Cats are home next weekend for matches with Akron and Buffalo in the Convo. The match with the Zips is on Friday night at 7 p.m. and the contest against the Bulls will be at the same time on Saturday.
