ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (6-8, 2-1 MAC) came back after being down 2-1 to defeat Toledo (9-7, 2-2 MAC) 3-2 (29-27, 24-26, 27-29, 25-14, 15-12) in their first head-to-head matchup on Friday, Oct. 4.

Head coach Geoff Carlston recorded his 200th career win at Ohio and is the first head coach in program history to reach the milestone.

The Bobcats were led by sophomore Kam Hunt (Sylvania, Ohio) who tallied a game-high 26 kills and career-high 19 digs. Junior Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv Ukraine) tallied 18 kills, five blocks, and six digs. Freshman Darbi Ricketts (Cincinnati, Ohio) also had an impressive outing with 15 kills and 22 digs. Freshman Bryn Janke (Westfield, Wis.) distributed a career-high 38 assists.

Defensively, sophomore Kendall Hickey (Fishers, Ind.) was a standout for Ohio as she recorded a career-high 41 digs.

The Bobcats were down early in the first, falling behind 7-3. After the teams went back and forth, Ohio scored seven unanswered to take their first set lead at 23-21. Hunt's seventh kill of set one gave the Bobcats set point, but the Rockets answered for a 25-25 tie. Trailing 27-26, Ohio scored the next three for the set one victory, 29-27.

Sets two and three were neck-and-neck throughout, with a combined 22 ties and 12 lead changes. The Bobcats ultimately fell short in both, dropping set two, 26-24, and set three, 29-27.

Looking to extend the match, the Bobcats got off to a 5-0 lead to begin the set four. Toledo got within two points at 9-7, but an 8-2 run from Ohio gave them the 17-9 advantage. The Bobcats continued to pull ahead, winning set four 25-14.

Both teams were battling for the win in set five with neither being able to grow their lead. The Bobcats found themselves down 11-10, then rallied together a 5-1 run to win set five 15-12, giving them the match.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 5 as they close out their MAC series against Toledo. The match is set to start at 6 PM ET.

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