ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (2-13, 0-3 MAC) dropped a close battle against Akron (8-6, 1-2 MAC) in a 3-1 (26-28, 26-24, 18-25, 29-31) decision on Friday, Oct. 3.
Ohio finished with 71 kills, four aces, four blocks, 61 assists, 65 digs and recorded a team attack percentage of .251. Akron finished with 65 kills, four aces, seven blocks, 60 assists, 59 digs and recorded a team attack percentage of .314.
Junior
Torre Kildow (Bethesda, Ohio) and freshman
Bailey Blair (Louisville, Ky.) powered Ohio's offense, recording a team-high 18 kills each. Blair also recorded a team-best attack percentage of .516. Junior
Gentry Brown (Shadyside, Ohio) also finished with an admirable 16 kills. Senior
Kendall White (Gahanna, Ohio) tallied a career-high and team-high 57 assists in addition to three kills.
Three Bobcats finished with double-digit digs. Junior
Kendall Hickey (Fishers, Ind.) led the team with 14 digs. Brown and junior
Caroline Curran (Wexford, Pa.) tallied 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Junior
Emily Waddell (Carmel, Ind.) recorded a team-high three block assists.
Akron gained an early 1-0 lead after taking the first set, 28-26.
Ohio answered back with a 26-24 win in the second set, tying the game at 1-1. The two teams were once again evenly matched, displayed by the fact that the score was tied 19 times throughout the set. Ohio eventually took the set with points off an Akron attack error followed by a kill by junior
Olivia Gardner (Macomb, Mich.).
The Zips retook the lead, 2-1, with a 25-18 win in the third set.
The fourth and eventual final set was an exciting battle. With Ohio looking to stay alive and Akron hungry to clinch the match, the fourth set ended up being a marathon. A five-point scoring run helped the Bobcats take a 22-20 lead after being down 20-17. Back-to-back kills from Akron sealed Ohio's fate. The Zips took the fourth set, 31-29, and won the game, 3-1.
The Bobcats will be back in action against Buffalo on Saturday, Oct. 4 in the Convocation Center. First serve is set for 4 p.m. ET and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
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