Oct. 8, 2011
Final Stats
Buffalo, N.Y. - Ohio Volleyball captured its 12th-straight match against a MAC opponent with a four-set win at Buffalo on Saturday night, 25-27, 25-21, 25-22, 25-12. Freshmen Kelly Lamberti, Chelsea Bilger and Bailey Karst all recorded double-doubles for the Bobcats.
Lamberti led Ohio (14-6, 6-0) with 16 kills and added 16 digs, Bilger led the squad with 17 digs and chipped in with 12 kills and Karst recorded her first double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs.
Katie Post finished with a match-high seven blocks to go with six kills and hometown favorite Lexie Hartnett added eight kills and six blocks. Birthday girl Faith Robins had five blocks as Ohio racked up 13.0 team blocks on the evening. Mollie Geske was the fourth Bobcat to have double-digit digs as she finished with 10.
The first set was tied 11-11 before Buffalo earned three-straight points and forced Ohio to call a timeout. The Bobcats would get within one at 16-15 before Buffalo picked up three more points to lead 19-15. Once again, Ohio closed to within one at 19-18 but Buffalo rattled off three of the next four to lead 22-19.
After a Bilger kill and a Geske ace, Ohio had cut the lead back to one. The Bobcats allowed two more points to fall back 24-21, but tied things on a Lamberti kill. The teams traded points before a UB kill and Lamberti attack error gave UB the first set, 27-25. The loss snapped a string of 26 straight Bobcat sets against MAC opponents. Bilger had seven kills, Lamberti had four and the team blocked three balls in the first set, but trailed the match, 1-0.
Ohio jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set but a 6-0 Buffalo run quickly gave the home team the lead. Still trailing 16-15, the Bobcats ran off three straight points for the first lead of the set. Up 19-18, Hartnett picked up a kill and combined on a block with Robins to put Ohio ahead, 21-18.
Robins and Hartnett combined on another block to make the score 23-20. After a Buffalo point, the Bulls served the ball into the net and Post combined with Bilger on a block to even the match with a 25-21 win. The `Cats racked up five blocks in the set, with three players earning multiple denials.
The third set was also an evenly-matched affair as it started 15-15. A Buffalo error was followed by a Post laser ace down left sideline to force a timeout by the home side. Out of the break, another UB error was followed by a second ace from Post and Ohio had a four-point lead.
Buffalo could never draw even but cut the Ohio lead to 23-22. However, Post slammed home a kill and then combined with Lamberti on a block for the 25-22 win. Ohio was aided in the third set by Lamberti's six kills and 10 errors by the Bulls.
Ohio started its domination of the fourth set by taking five of the first six points. Leading 12-8, the Bobcats scored the next five points and eight of the next nine for a 20-9 advantage. Ohio would take its largest lead of the match at the very end when it won the fourth set, 25-12 and ran its overall record against Buffalo to 26-2.
First place in the MAC standings will be on the line Friday night in The Convo when Ohio hosts Ball State. The Bobcats will then have another tough contest on Saturday evening against Toledo.
