ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (4-5, 0-0 MAC) swept Liberty (5-6, 0-0 C-USA) 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-15) in its first competition of the Green & White Invitational on Friday, Sept. 20. 

The Bobcats were led by sophomore Kam Hunt (Sylvania, Ohio) who tallied a game-high 14 kills, with seven kills coming in set one alone. Junior Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv, Ukraine) contributed with 11 kills, a game-high .579 hit percentage, four digs, and three blocks. Sophomore Olivia Gardner (Macomb, Mich.) led the game with a career-high six blocks and totaled six kills. 

Sophomore Kendall Hickey (Fishers, Ind) led the game in digs with 10, followed by freshman Darbi Ricketts (Cincinnati, Ohio) with eight. 

Set one began with the Bobcats taking an early lead until the Flames tied the set at 7-7. After the two teams went back and forth, Hunt tallied her sixth kill to cap off a 5-1 run, giving Ohio the 20-17 advantage. The Bobcats forced set point, then Kharchynska got the kill for Ohio to win set one, 25-22.  

Liberty took an early 7-2 lead to begin set two. The Bobcats rallied from behind and put together a 16-4 run, including eight unanswered, for an 18-11 advantage over the Flames. Liberty was able to get within four points, but Ohio pulled away for a 25-17 win in the second set. 

The Bobcats took control of set three. After an early 10-7 lead, Ohio tallied a 5-1 run, followed by a 7-1 run to go up double digits. The Bobcats forced set point, then won the third 25-15 off a service error for the sweep over the Flames.  

Ohio will conclude the Green & White Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 21. The Bobcats will start the day with Oakland at 1 p.m. and will then face Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. 

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