Scores: Ohio 3, Akron 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-10)

Location: Athens, Ohio (Convocation Center)

Records: Ohio 11-4 (4-0 MAC), Akron 7-12 (1-3 MAC)

 

THE BASICS

• The Ohio volleyball team (11-4, 4-0 MAC) put together its most dominant effort of the 2014 season to date, sweeping by Mid-American Conference East Division rival Akron (7-12, 1-3 MAC) on Saturday (Oct. 4) in front of 1,358 spirited fans on 'Dig Pink' night.

• The Bobcats are off to a 4-0 start to conference play under first-year head coach Deane Webb and have won 10 of their last 11 matches -- including five straight. Ohio begins MAC play with four-straight wins for the third time in the last four seasons.

• Ohio attacked at a .370 clip and limited Akron to a -.013 hitting percentage. The Bobcats forced the Zips to commit 21 attack errors. Ohio also outblocked Akron, 8-1.
• The Bobcats' road to victory was paved by a balanced offensive attack, with senior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti (Cary, Ill.), junior middle blocker Karin Bull (Bloomington, Minn.) and junior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) leading the charge with seven kills apiece. Lamberti added two service aces, two assisted blocks and six digs. Bull and Walker tied for the match lead with three assisted blocks.
• Freshman outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) tallied five kills, three total blocks (one solo, two assisted), two digs and a service ace.
• Junior setter Abby Gilleland (Bull Valley, Ill.) -- the reigning MAC East Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week -- handed out a match-high 31 assists to go along with three kills, a match-high three service aces, an assisted block and five digs.
• On the defensive end, junior libero Meredith Ashy (Louisville, Ky.) recorded a team-high nine digs while sophomore outside hitter/libero Malloy Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) totaled six more.
• Sophomore outside hitter Julia Smagacz led the Zips with six kills. Sophomore setter Karley Kusan recorded a team-high 14 assists. Sophomore defensive specialist Callie Mack totaled a match-high 12 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ohio built up a 14-11 lead in the first set thanks to three kills by senior middle blocker/outside hitter Hannah Burkle (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and service aces by Kosiorek and redshirt sophomore setter/defensive specialist Aubree Hord (Loveland, Ohio), forcing Akron to burn a timeout. The Bobcats closed out the win in the opening set by putting together an 11-3 final push that was highlighted by a double block by Bull and Gilleland,  a solo block by Kosiorek, kills by Bull, Gilleland, Lamberti and Kosiorek and a service ace by Lamberti. Ohio is now 11-0 in 2014 when winning the opening set.
• The Bobcats jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the second set and never looked back, using three kills by Lamberti and double blocks by Lamberti and Bull and Walker and Kosiorek to build up the advantage. From there, Ohio went on a 6-1 run to make it a 22-9 set in favor of the 'Cats, thanks in large part to kills by Kosiorek, redshirt junior outside hitter Chelsea Bilger (Fishers, Ind.) and redshirt freshman middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio), a solo block by Burkle and a double block by Bilger and Walker. Akron put together a 4-2 run to cut Ohio's lead to 24-13, but a kill by Bilger provided the Bobcats with a 2-0 match lead.

• The third set proved to be Ohio's most lopsided of the season to date. The Bobcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead thanks to two kills by Bull, kills by Walker and Lamberti and a service ace by Hord. The Zips trimmed Ohio's lead down to two at 9-7, but the Bobcats rolled from there, ending the match on a 16-3 run. Walker tallied four kills in the third set while Gilleland recorded all three of her service aces.

 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Ohio's all-time record with Akron now stands at 35-23 -- including seven straight victories over the Zips.

 

QUOTABLE

"Our main focus was to go out there and have fun and just play for a bigger purpose than ourselves, and I think we did that tonight." - Junior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker

WHAT'S NEXT

• Ohio begins a four-match road swing next weekend with a pair of MAC East Division clashes. The Bobcats travel to Oxford, Ohio, for a 'Battle of the Bricks' showdown against Miami on Friday (Oct. 10) at 7 p.m ET, then visit Bowling Green on Saturday (Oct. 11) in a 5 p.m. ET meeting.

 

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