ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (9-10, 4-3 MAC) fell to Western Michigan (16-2, 6-0 MAC) 3-2 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9) on Friday night in the Convocation Center.  

Individually, the Bobcats were led by graduate student Caitlin O'Farrell (Suwanee, Ga.) who had a match-high 19. Sophomore Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv, Ukraine) had an impressive outing, recording 11 kills, 11 digs, and six blocks. Senior Tria McLean (Battle Creek, Neb.) contributed on both sides of the ball, totaling 41 assists and 11 digs.  

Defensively, senior Maci Watrous (Coppell, Texas) led the game in digs with 24.  

Set one began as a back-and-forth battle before Western Michigan tallied together an 8-1 run to take a significant advantage. The Broncos closed out the Bobcats, taking the first set 25-12. 

The Bobcats found themselves trailing for the majority of set two, facing their largest deficit at 21-14. In an exciting comeback, Ohio put together an 11-2 run, capped off by an ace from Watrous to steal set two, 25-23.  

The third set began with nine early ties until the Broncos were able to put together a five-point run to take a 16-11 lead. In a mirror image of the previous set, the Bobcats were down 20-14, then ignited an 11-1 run to win set three 25-21.  

Ohio trailed early in the fourth, dropping the set 25-17. 

Despite two great comebacks in sets two and three, the Bobcats fell short in the final, 15-9. 

The Bobcats will be back in action at the Convocation Center to take on Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 13. 

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