Coach Ryan Theis was searching for improvement during Ohio’s spring, and he found it during the Bobcats’ first weekend tournament.
The volleyball team competed against four teams, including some top Atlantic Coast Conference schools such as Duke, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest last weekend in Blacksburg, Va. The scoreboard was not something Theis was looking at particularly but more on the performance he expected from the team.
“I wasn’t surprised with our performance. It was what I expected at this point,” Theis said. “The things we have been working on have improved over the last two weeks.”
Ohio produced 12 blocks against Duke and out-blocked all four teams 28-19.
Sophomore Faith Robins recorded 19 kills as she continues to improve on her offense. Robins wasn’t the only one with an impressive weekend, as freshman Lexie Hartnett and juniors Katie Post and Nicole Staverman all played well, Theis said.
“(Hartnett, Post and Staverman) played exceptional at times,” Theis said.
“Everyone on the team is showing improvement throughout the spring, but we have a long way to go.”
The tournament gave Theis the chance to test his younger players and give them the shot to play against tougher teams and opponents. The tournament was a learning experience not only for the veteran players but also the freshmen.
“Our younger players, five of our eight or nine player rotation were freshmen. These are games of valuable experience for those players,” Theis said.
The focus for the weekend and the rest of the spring season is on learning.
Theis emphasized that the game IQ of the players still needs to improve as the team moves along. The tournament was the first chance the Bobcats had to play against another opponent and test how much progress they had made over the past two weeks.
“We need to get better at volleyball knowledge, and I think that was clear during the Wake Forest game,” Theis said.
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