KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The No. 4 Ohio volleyball team (18-12, 13-5 MAC) will open the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament against No. 5 Toledo (13-16, 11-7 MAC) on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. ET in Kalamazoo, Mich. The tournament is being hosted by No. 1 Western Michigan and will be available to watch on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING OHIO
The Bobcats capped off the regular season with an exciting 3-1 victory at Kent State. With a 13-5 conference record, Ohio secured its share of the 2023 East Division Champions title with No. 2 Buffalo. This is the program's 14^th East Division title and the fifth time with head coach Geoff Carlston leading the team. The Bobcats have won the MAC Championships nine of the 14 times that they earned the division title.   
 
Ohio is currently on a five-match winning streak after claiming vital victories over conference opponents including Eastern Michigan (3-0, 3-0), Central Michigan (3-0, 3-0) and Kent State (3-1). The Bobcats rank third in the NCAA for team kills (1,567) and sixth for team assists (1,428). In the conference rankings, Ohio sits at the top of the MAC for kills. The team also ranks second in points (1,943), assists, fourth for digs (1,649) and fifth for hitting percentage (.229).
 
Players to Watch

• Graduate Student Caitlin O'Farrell (Suwanee, Ga.): team-high kills (368), points (427), second on team for total blocks (79), ranked fifth in MAC for hitting percentage (.342), seventh for total points and eighth for total kills.
• Sophomore Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv, Ukraine): team-high in total blocks (91), second on team in kills (322) and points (389), fourth for aces (16) and fifth for digs (135).
• Senior Sam Steele (Omaha, Neb.): leads team with 494 digs, 39 aces and own one of the top two reception percentages – .958 on 777 total attacks – on team, fourth on team in assists (118), sits at fourth in MAC for digs and sixth for aces, ranks 35^th in the NCAA for digs.
• Freshman Kam Hunt (Sylvania, Ohio): owns one of the top two reception percentages – .957 on 323 total attacks – on team, third on team in points (292), aces (18), fourth for kills (255), digs (135) and fifth for total blocks (32).
• Senior Tria McLean (Battle Creek, Neb.): leads team in assists (689), second-best on team for aces (18), sits at third on team for digs (148), ranks seventh in the MAC for assists per set (8.20) and 10^th for total assists, recorded an attack percentage of 1.000 six times throughout the season.

 
SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 11-7 record in conference play and an overall record of 13-16. Most recently, Toledo dominated No. 3 Ball State and earned a 3-0 victory in its final match of the regular season. Earlier this season, the Rockets also recorded a 3-2 win over No. 2 Buffalo.
 
Toledo's offense is led by senior Taylor Alt (451 Ks, 493.5 PTS) – who also leads the MAC in total kills – sophomore Izzy Granger (269 Ks, 328.5 PTS) and senior Jada Bouyer (266 Ks, 304.5 PTS). Freshman Mary Hatkevich has a team-high 727 assists and 0.32 service aces per set average.
 
Defensively, fifth year Ryan Jaqua has recorded 591 digs and a .955 reception percentage on 557 total attacks. Senior Abby Erickson leads the team with 77 blocks assists, 20 block solos and a total of 97 blocks on the season.
 
EARLIER THIS SEASON
Ohio's last competition with Toledo was hosted by the Rockets on Friday, Oct. 27. Behind 22 kills and 20 points from O'Farrell, the Bobcats came out on top with a 3-1 victory. Ohio outscored the Rockets, 77-58, and recorded 63 kills to Toledo's 47.
 
UP NEXT
With a win, Ohio would face tournament host and No. 1 seed Western Michigan in the MAC semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. ET.
 
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