Sept. 13, 2011
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio Volleyball fought off nine match points during the fourth and fifth sets on Tuesday night as the Bobcats evened their record with a 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24, 21-19 victory over the Pitt Panthers.
"We showed toughness tonight after a weekend where we didn’t close out games," Head Coach Ryan Theis said. "We were lacking in that area so tonight was good to see. It's something else we can cross off our bucket list as far as things we needed to see before conference play."
Trailing 2-1 heading into the fourth set, Ohio jumped on Pitt for a 6-1 lead behind three kills and two blocks. The Panthers rallied to take an 11-8 lead, stretched it to 18-13 and arrived at match point with a 24-20 advantage. A Pitt attack error kept the ‘Cats alive before Katie Post and Leah Petrovich combined on consecutive blocks to close within one.
Petrovich, playing in front of friends and family, notched a kill to draw Ohio even. She then set up Kelly Lamberti and Post with kills to close a six-point run that evened the match at two sets apiece. Petrovich, a Pittsburgh native who attended Shaler Area High School finished with four blocks in the set and the Bobcats accumulated seven team blocks during the comeback.
“We had a couple blocks down the stretch in game four that helped us get the win,†Theis said. “Leah’s competitiveness and blocking were needed tonight to get a win. I’m happy that she was able to do that in front of her friends and family that came to support her tonight.â€
Riding a wave of momentum, Ohio leapt out to a 7-3 lead in the fifth set. However, Pitt rallied and took a 13-11 lead. Trailing 14-12, Petrovich and Lamberti notched consecutive kills to draw even. Lamberti saved four match-points by herself with kills and then provided the ace that finally gave Ohio a lead at 20-19. A Pitt error won a hard-fought match for the Bobcats with Lamberti racking up seven kills and hitting .462 in the final set.
“Our freshmen on the left side are continuing to step up,†Theis added. “They’re both passing into units and attacking pretty well right now.â€
Lamberti and Chelsea Bilger each finished with career nights for the Bobcats. Lamberti notched 21 kills and 20 digs while her classmate Bilger finished with 16 kills and 13 digs. Bailey Karst had 33 assists with Petrovich tallying 22. Nicole Staverman, returned from an illness over the weekend to also notch 11 digs.
In the first set, Ohio held leads of 11-5 and 15-9 before Ohio rallied to cut the gap to two at 20-18. After a timeout, Ohio would get within a point and trailing 24-22, benefitted from two Pitt errors to finally draw even at 24-24. However, Pitt scored the next two points and won the set despite the Bobcats hitting .357 and Lexie Hartnett knocking down five kills.
The Bobcats looked as if they’d go down two sets when they trailed 15-11 in the second. However, Ohio drew even at 19-19 and 22-22 before going ahead on a Post block and a Bilger kill. Up 24-23, Hartnett closed it out with another kill. The sophomore finished with 10 kills on the night and hit .364
“Lexie had 10 kills and started off playing great because she was hitting so well,†Theis said. “She and Bailey were connecting and Lexie came out aggressively, which was great to see.â€
With the third set tied 6-6, Pitt scored four-straight points to grab the lead. Ohio still trailed 13-8 and 19-13 before putting a scare into the Panthers with three points in a row. Down 19-16, Ohio could get no closer and eventually lost the set 25-20 to fall behind 2-1 in the match, thus setting up the stirring comeback.
Ohio heads to the Georgia Southern Tournament for four matches this weekend. On Friday, the 'Cats play South Carolina State and Georgia Southern, and then on Saturday, Ohio squares off against Georgia State and Presbyterian.
