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Score: Ohio 3, Appalachian State 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23)
Location: Boone, N.C. (George M. Holmes Convocation Center)
Record: Ohio 2-5, Appalachian State 2-4
Short Story: The Ohio volleyball team (2-5) dominated host Appalachian State (2-4) in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23) sweep on Saturday (Sept. 3) in the final match of the Black and Gold Invitational at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C.
The Bobcats split their first two matches in the Black and 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 but fell to UNC-Wilmington, 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19), on Saturday morning.
The Seahawks earned the Black and Gold Invitational title with their win over the Bobcats on Saturday, a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-14) sweep of the Mountaineers on Friday night and a 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 21-19) triumph over the Terriers on Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
• The Bobcats attacked at a season-best .376 (42 kills-7 errors-93 total attacks) clip. Ohio held Appalachian Stare to a .190 (36 kills-16 errors-105 total attacks) attack percentage. The Bobcats were aided by six service errors, two ball handling errors and a blocking error by the Mountaineers.
• Senior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) attacked at a .462 (12 kills-0 errors-26 total attacks) pace, leading the match in kills for Ohio. She also tallied a career-high five service aces and to lead the match and nine digs.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Katie Nelson (Regina, Saskatchewan) recorded a career-high 11 kills and attacked at a .625 (11 kills-1 error-16 total attacks) percentage for the Bobcats. She also chipped in two assisted blocks and two digs.
• Sophomore setter/outside hitter Stephanie Olman (Maumee, Ohio) dished out a team-high 33 assists for Ohio and also chipped in three kills, one service ace, an assisted block and three digs.
• Senior libero Brooke Coleman (Plano, Texas) racked up a season-high 20 digs to lead the match for the Bobcats.
• Freshman outside hitter Mikel Coleman led Appalachian State with 10 kills and also posted three digs.
• Sophomore middle blocker Alana Shoff recorded a match-high four total blocks (three solo, one assisted) and also had seven kills, a service ace and an assist for the Mountaineers.
• Freshman setter Amanda Krahl totaled a match-high 34 assists and also tallied a kill, a service ace and two digs for Appalachian State.
• Senior libero/defensive specialist Kati Stammen led the Mountaineers with 13 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio dominated Appalachian State in the opening set to set the tone for the sweep, attacking at a .407 (13 kills-2 errors-27 total attacks) percentage while holding the opposition to a .000 (9 kills-9 errors-38 total attacks) attack percentage. The Bobcats rolled to an 11-point set win behind four kills and an assisted block by Nelson.
• The Bobcats broke a seven-all tie in the second set thanks to back-to-back attack errors by Appalachian State, a kill by redshirt junior middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) and a service ace by Olman. Ohio grew its lead to 19-13 by way of a kill by Salis, a service ace by freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Sara Januszewski (Oak Creek, Wis.), a double block by Nelson and Lake and another kill by Salis. After Appalachian State burned a timeout, the Bobcats scored six of the final 13 points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Ohio built up a 17-11 lead in the third set with four kills by Nelson and three more by Salis. Appalachian State went on a 12-7 run to climb back into the set, but the Bobcats won the match on a serive error by the Mountaineers.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Salis has now posted double-digit kills in all four matches she's played in this year and has done so 19 times in her career.
• Nelson notched double-digit kills for the third time in her career.
• Coleman has compiled double-digit digs five times this year and 34 times in her career.
• Both Salis and Kosiorek represented Ohio on the All-Black and Gold Invitational Team. Salis finished the tournament with 39 kills (3.90 per set) and eight service aces (0.80 per set) and ranked second on the squad with 29 digs (2.90 per set). Kosiorek ranked third on the team with 23 kills (2.30 per set).
QUOTABLE
Third-year head coach Deane Webb on team's growth
"I thought we served and passed better this weekend than we did last weekend. I just thought we played more like a team this weekend. That's probably the biggest things. The first weekend, we were playing as individuals, which is not surprising given how many new people are out there playing. We have a lot of people out there playing who have played college volleyball for about a week. It's just a lot of learning. I think this last match, it was a matchup of two teams that are very young. I think there were times that it showed. But, I was really pleased with our team tonight that we lowered our unforced errors while hitting. That's something we didn't do earlier today when we were playing UNC-Wilmington. We had a tremendous number of unforced errors. That's a lot of growth in a short amount of time, and I credit that to our passers. I thought that, of all the kids today that grew up, Steph really grew up today. I thought she just as an all-around player served really well, set well and did a lot of good things for us. That was great to see."
Webb on senior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis' performance
"It cannot be overstated how good that kid is, at all phases of the game. She's obviously a great passer. That's probably the first thing, because it's so obvious when she's not there. She's just a tremendous athlete. Tonight, 26 swings, no errors. Five aces, no errors. Nine digs. That's a heckuva stat line."
Webb on redshirt sophomore middle blocker Katie Nelson's performance
"She's certainly developing. I'm proud of where she's going. She's done a nice job for us. She has a long way to go, and she knows that. But, it's a great way to end a weekend, playing at this level. I think she kind of set the tone early in the match with several key blocks on their dominant hitter. As the match went on, she really got going offensively and had a good match for us."
UP NEXT
The Bobcats fly west to Norman, Okla., to take part in the NIKE Invitational. Ohio will take on Lamar and host Oklahoma next Friday (Sept. 9) and Texas-San Antonio on Saturday (Sept. 10) at McCasland Field House.
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