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Nov. 22, 2015

Score: No. 2 Ohio 3, No. 1 Northern Illinois 0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-19)
Location: Athens, Ohio (Convocation Center)
Record: Ohio 25-6, Northern Illinois 19-11
Short Story: In the Mid-American Conference Championship final, second-seeded Ohio (25-6) swept top-seeded Northern Illinois (19-11) in three sets (25-17, 25-11, 25-19) on Sunday (Nov. 22) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 and the MAC Tournament championship marks the fourth consecutive season the Bobcats have either won the regular season title or the tournament title. Senior setter Abby Gilleland (Bull Valley, Ill.) was named Tournament MVP and was named to the All-Tournament team along with senior libero Meredith Ashy (Louisville, Ky.).

THE BASICS
• The Bobcats hit .366 (50 kills-9 errors-112 total attacks) while limiting the Huskies to a .109 clip (31 kills-19 errors-110 total attacks).
• Junior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) racked up a match-high 19 kills and just missed out on a double-double with nine digs for the Bobcats. She also tallied an assisted block.
• Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) chipped in 10 kills, a solo block and three digs for Ohio.
• Senior middle blocker Karin Bull (Bloomington, Minn.) recorded six kills and two block assists for the Bobcats.
• Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) notched six kills, two assisted blocks and one solo blocks for Ohio.
• Gilleland dished out a match-high 43 assists to go along with three kills, a blocked shot, a block assist and three digs for the Bobcats.
• Ashy logged a match-high 23 digs for Ohio to go along with a service ace and four assists.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) contributed six kills, two block assists and one solo block for the Bobcats.
• Junior outside hitter T’ara Austin led Northern Illinois with 13 kills and added eight digs, a solo block and a block assist.
• Sophomore libero Anna Brereton notched a team-high 20 digs for the Huskies.
• Senior setter Alexis Gonzalez led the Huskies with 31 assists and added seven digs.
• Junior middle blocker Jenna Radke and junior outside hitter Mary Grace Kelly each added five kills for Northern Illinois.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats opened the first set with an 11-5 lead that featured two kills by both Bull and Lake with six assists by Gilleland. They built on the lead throughout the set to finish with a 25-17 win. Salis led Ohio with six kills while Kosiorek and Lake added three and Gilleland had two along with 13 assists. Ashy led all players with nine digs in the opening set. Ohio hit .444 in the set with one error.
• Ohio started out fast in the second set, building a 10-1 lead on the Huskies behind a pair of kills by Kosiorek and a kill each for Bull and Shelby Walker. The Bobcats never looked back, taking the set by a 25-11 margin. Kosiorek would lead Ohio with five kills while Salis notched four and Shelby Walker added three. Gilleland had 13 assists for the second consecutive set.
• Northern Illinois wouldn’t go quietly, holding a 13-12 lead in the middle of the third set with four kills from Austin. But Ohio countered with a 13-6 run to close out the third set and the match. Salis led the Bobcats with nine kills in the third set, with Bull and Lake adding three, Kosiorek and Shelby Walker with two and Gilleland with one.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• With the victory, Ohio is now 9-1 in the title game.
• Ohio is now 18-16 (.529) all-time against Northern Illinois.
• The 102 digs for the Bobcats marked the most for Ohio in a four-set match in 2015.
• Salis has recorded double-digit kills 10 times this season and 12 times in her career. The 19 kills is a team-high in three sets this season and ties top mark in the conference in 2015.
• Gilleland recorded double-digit assists for the 31st time this season and 123rd time in her career. Her 31 gave her 89 on the weekend. She averaged 12.7 assists per set in the MAC Championship tournament.
• Ashy has achieved double-digit digs 27 times in 2015 -- including at least 20 for the 15th time. She has notched double-digit digs 111 times in her career -- including 20 or more 46 times.

QUOTABLE
"It’s about the kids. It’s not about me. There are different parts that are neat for me as a coach. Just seeing these seniors do that. One of my assistant coaches won it with me as a player and now won it on the sideline as a coach. … Beyond that, it’s just about the kids and they’ve worked so hard. I’m so impressed with what they’ve done in the last three weeks or so." - Second-Year Head Coach Deane Webb

“This is something that seniors wanted extremely, extremely bad. We knew after not winning the conference this season it was our one last opportunity for the upperclassmen to win a MAC championship on our home court. I think that was one thing that drove us and really drove our passion into this match. â€" Senior setter Abby Gilleland

“It’s huge. Since we haven’t been back since 2013 and remembering that feelingâ€"it was just phenomenal knowing that you’re going to be in that selection show, knowing that you’ll see your name up on that screen. It’s just so exciting. And now that we know that we’re inâ€"it’s even better that we’re seniors because it’s our last year and we wanted to come out of it with a bang. I’m so glad it was with the people that have been with me throughout the whole thing. â€" Senior libero Meredith Ashy

WHAT'S NEXT
Ohio will play host to the Atlantic 10-champion Dayton Flyers at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio on Friday (Nov. 27). The regular season finale will begin at 5 p.m. ET.

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