The Bobcats were successful with both the soccer and the volleyball teams as the offseason spring schedule nears its final stretch.
Soccer:
For the second consecutive Saturday, the weather in Athens did not cooperate with the sports schedule, as both softball and baseball games were pushed back until later in the day. The weather didn’t stop the soccer team from dominating the pitch against Eastern Kentucky.
After a sloppy start that resulted in a goal by the Colonels, the Bobcats stepped up their play late in the first half and carried that momentum through the second half to pick up a 3-1 victory.
“We made a few adjustments at halftime, and I thought it helped,” coach Stacy Strauss said. “In the first half we were too content to sit in and drop and let them come at us. But in the second half we defended higher up the field, and that made a big difference.”
The Bobcats managed only three shots in the first half but turned it around in the second with 10, including five on target.
Ohio’s first goal came from junior transfer Maggie Murnane, who drove the ball into the lower right side of the net, just out of reach of the Eastern Kentucky goalkeeper.
Murnane returned to the score sheet by heading the ball in from a perfectly executed set piece volley by sophomore Jackie Campo.
“(Campo) has a tremendous left foot, and she can put the ball really anywhere she wants,” Strauss said. “And Maggie really drives in the air and is a good finisher with her head and her feet.”
Senior Cat Rogers scored the last goal when she buried the ball off a terrific cross from sophomore Liz Finley.
Ohio’s defense, which had been porous to open the game, clamped down after the opening goal and allowed only four more shots for the rest of the game.
This performance served as a rebound for the Bobcats after a 2-0 loss to West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday.
“I thought our possession was better today, and we were able to possess better because our spacing on the field was better,” Strauss said. “We used the field to our advantage more successfully than we did Thursday.”
Volleyball:
For the first time this spring, the Ohio volleyball team’s ride home came after a victory.
Ohio defeated Marshall on Saturday to notch its first win of the season,. Ohio won in straight sets.
“The team competed a lot harder than they did last week,” assistant coach Meghan Keck said. “It was good to see them play hard and work hard for each win.”
Much of the load was on the back of middle blocker Serena Warner, who once again shined for the improving squad.
“We’ve been working on keeping her really fast offensively,” Keck said. “Actually, she did so well that they actually checked her range with some of their blocking schemes.”
After the win, the squad exited the match looking to improve its play on both sides of the ball.
“Our goal this spring is to compete with every touch or every time we contact the ball,” Keck said. “We’ve really worked hard on our passing, our setting and our defense, and (we) really just want to improve on all areas in our game.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
