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Score: UNC-Wilmington 3, Ohio 1 (25-19, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19)
Location: Boone, N.C. (George M. Holmes Convocation Center)
Record: Ohio 1-5, UNC-Wilmington 4-1
Short Story: Despite a double-double by senior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) and a career-high six service aces by sophomore libero Erica Walker (Wheaton, Ill.), the Ohio volleyball team (1-5) suffered a tough 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19) setback to UNC-Wilmington on Saturday (Sept. 3) in the Black and Gold Invitational at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C.

The Bobcats have split their first two matches in the Black & Gold Invitational. Ohio swept Wofford, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-19), on Friday (Sept. 2) to pick up their first victory of the 2016 season.

THE BASICS
• The Bobcats outperformed the Seahawks in terms of kills (51-46), service aces (10-5), assists (49-44) and digs (63-62) but were dominated at the net by UNC-Wilmington in total blocks (13.0-5.0). UNC-Wilmington limited Ohio to a .145 attack percentage (51 kills-29 errors-152 total attacks) while attacking at .244 (46 kills-15-errors-127 total attacks) pace.
• Salis led the Bobcats with a season-high 16 kills to lead the match and tied for second on the squad with 12 digs. She also recorded two total blocks (one solo, one assisted), a service ace and an assist.
• Junior outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) hit .250 (11 kills-3 errors-32 attacks) and also added a dig for Ohio.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Katie Nelson (Regina, Saskatchewan) posted a .263 (9 kills-4 errors-19 total attacks) attack percentage and also had an assisted block and two digs for the Bobcats. Her nine kills represented a season high.
• Freshman middle blocker Sara Januszewski (Oak Creek, Wis.) chipped in a career-high eight kills, a team-high three total blocks (one solo, two assisted), a service ace and a dig for Ohio.
• Redshirt junior middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) finished with six kills and two assisted blocks for the Bobcats.
• Senior libero Brooke Coleman (Plano, Texas) led Ohio with 16 digs.
• Sophomore setter/outside hitter Stephanie Olman (Maumee, Ohio) distributed a match-high 35 assists and achieved a double-double with 12 digs for the Bobcats. She also had a kill and a service ace.
• In addition to her career-high six service aces to lead the match, Walker added a season-high 11 digs.
• Senior outside hitter Nicole Lott led the way for UNC-Wilmington with a team-high 15 kills and 15 digs. She also added an assisted block and three assists. Lott hit .375 (15 kills-3 errors-26 total attacks) for the match. 
• Senior right side Kristen Powell recorded nine kills, six total blocks (one solo, five assisted), seven digs and an assist for the Seahawks.
• Sophomore outside hitter Maddy Kline finished with seven kills, a team-high three service aces, a solo block, nine digs and an assist for UNC-Wilmington.
• Sophomore middle blocker Anna Moss led the match with eight total blocks (one solo, seven assisted) and also had six kills and two digs for the Seahawks.
• Senior setter Alyssa Desjardins dished out a team-high 21 assists while senior setter Bella Borgiotti chipped in 16 assists for UNC-Wilmington. Desjardins also had two service aces and six digs. Borgiotti finished with three kills, three assisted blocks and two digs.
• Sophomore libero Sydney Alvis piled up a match-high 18 digs for the Seahawks. She also had two assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio was plagued by a slow start as UNC-Wilmington raced out to a 20-10 lead in the first set. The Bobcats fought back into the set, however, going on a 9-3 run that featured kills by Salis, Lake and Kosiorek, a service ace by Salis and two more service aces by Walker. Lott put the Seahawks up 1-0 in the match, though, with the last of her team-high five kills in the opening set.
• The second set saw seven ties. With the score deadlocked at 17-all, the Bobcats put together an 8-5 spurt to win the second and even the match. Two kills apiece by Kosiorek and Salis, kills by Jaunszewski and Nelson and a service ace by Olman powered Ohio down the stretch. Nelson led the 'Cats in the second set with five kills while Salis posted four and Kosiorek added three. Ohio hit a match-best .282 (16 kills-5 errors-39 total attacks) in the second set. Six kills by Lott and three assisted blocks by Moss kept the Seahawks in contention.
• The pivotal third set proved to be costly for Ohio. The Bobcats jumped out to a 16-12 lead courtesy of three kills by Salis, two kills by Nelson, a kill and a service ace by Januszewski and a double block by Nelson and Lake. The Seahawks did not give in, though, going on a 9-6 run to grab a 21-18 advantage. The UNC-Wilmington comeback was fueld by two kills by Powell, kills by Lott and junior middle hitter Sydney Brock, a solo block by Brock and a double-block by Moss and Powell. Ohio put the Seahawks on the ropes with a kill by Kosiorek, back-to-back kills by Salis and a kill by Januszewski that was sandwiched between two service aces by Walker. Despite being up 24-21, the Bobcats were undone by costly mistakes, committing five-straight errors to allow UNC-Wilmington to take the set, 26-24, and go up in the match, 2-1.
• The Seahawks opened up the fourth set with an 11-9 lead, utilizing three kills by Moss and two by Brock. The Bobcats clawed back to take a 16-11 lead with a kill by Lake, a double block by Januszewski and Lake, a solo block by Januszewski, a kill by Salis sandwiched between two more service aces by Walker and a bad set by UNC-Wilmington. Unfortunately for Ohio, the Seahawks closed the match out with a 14-3 run. Moss and Brock finished the fourth set with three kills apiece, Lott and Borgiotti both had two kills and Powell added two kills and two assisted blocks.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• The Bobcats dropped to 1-1 (.500) all-time against the Seahawks.
• Ohio's 10 service aces marked a season high.
• Salis posted her second double-double in three matches, raising her career total to 11. She has posted double-digit kills in all three matches she's played in this year and has done so 18 times in her career. She has logged double-digit digs twice this season, bringing her career total to 36.
• Kosiorek has notched double-digit kills three times this season and 36 times in her career.
• Walker has tallied at least three service aces in match three times in her career. She has also posted double-digit digs 11 times.
• Coleman has compiled double-digit digs four times this year and 33 times in her career.

QUOTABLE
Third-year head coach Deane Webb on the loss
"Unforced errors were the biggest key today. We actually outpointed Wilmington but just had a lot of unforced errors. We hit balls out of bounds when we should have been aiming for interior seams. We tipped at least two, maybe three, balls out of bounds. Again, we just need to be a little more mature with our attacking decisions at times. Not because of age; just because of attacking maturity. That's part of growth throughout the season. In many ways, I was pleased with a lot of the game. I always hate to get a loss, but that's probably the best we've played this year. I think we served and passed well, but there were a number of runs that happened that shouldn't have. We just have to make sure we're a little bit more focused in those situations."

Webb on Walker's serving performance
"It was a good serving performance for all of us, but Erica was just great this morning. She was really good in serve receive, she was great on defense, she was great serving. I'm really, really proud of her for the way she competed."

UP NEXT
The Bobcats will square off against host Appalachian State in the final match of the Black and Gold Invitational on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

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