Another tournament full of tough competition is awaiting the Bobcats this weekend, as Ohio (0-3) is set to host No. 10 Kentucky, No. 17 Oregon and Western Carolina in the Baymont Invitational.
After playing three teams in this past weekend’s Flyer Classic that are now nationally-ranked, the Bobcats and coach Ryan Theis are optimistic that the tough matches have better prepared the squad to play two more in The Convo on Friday and Sunday.
“I like playing good competition the first weekend because it tells us what’s broken,” Theis said. “I watched us get better through three matches last weekend and hopefully it carries into this weekend.”
The Bobcats gave themselves chances to win in each of the three matches against No. 11 Dayton, No. 13 Pepperdine and No. 19 Illinois, but were not able to finish with a victory. However, the team worked in practice all week on minimizing errors and playing more efficiently.
“Any time we can play great competition it just pushes us to get better. They do things we can’t simulate in practice,” Theis said. “If we can do things right against these teams, then we feel like we can compete and play well against anybody. We’ll play anyone to get better.”
Ohio will play its first game of this weekend’s tournament against Kentucky (3-1) Friday. The Wildcats are led by two-time Southeastern Conference Libero of the Year Stephanie Klefot.
Kentucky hosted a tournament this past weekend and won all three matches before losing to rival Louisville Wednesday, 3-1.
After sparring with the Wildcats, the Bobcats will return to the court Saturday afternoon against Western Carolina (2-1).
The Catamounts are a young squad, much like the Bobcats, as two returning sophomores, Caitlin Piechota and Jordan Timmermann, were among the top three on the team in kills, digs and double-doubles in 2011.
Ohio will wrap up its own tournament on Sunday against Oregon (3-0), who also competed last weekend at Ohio State and defeated the Buckeyes, Toledo and Houston.
The Ducks’ roster boasts multiple All-PAC-12 picks from 2011.
Oregon will be led by All-American outside hitter Alaina Bergsma, who was named the PAC-12 Player of the Week on Monday after a double-double (23 kills, 15 digs) against Ohio State.
“I think whoever plays consistent the longest in any match is going to win,” Theis said. “We’ve never had back-to-back preseason, home tournaments, so it will be nice to get off to a good start this weekend. Hopefully we can put on some good shows.”
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