After preaching consistency to his team all week, Ohio coach Ryan Theis is finally seeing his team heed his message.
Ohio swept all three matches played in the Bobcat Invitational in The Convo, defeating Niagara and Belmont on Friday and Montana State on Saturday.
“Our offense is doing everything right and we kept serious pressure on everyone (the opposition) all weekend,” Theis said. “Everything is just starting to click for us.”
The Bobcats took the court with Montana State in the tournament’s championship match, with each team winning both of their matches Friday. Ohio bested Montana State, winning 25-18, 25-18 and 25-22.
Montana State scored the first point of the opening set, which was its only lead in the first two sets.
The Bobcats controlled both of the first two sets, with wins of seven points in each, but Montana State competed in the final set, with neither team leading by more than four points in the game.
In their third straight-set victory on the weekend, the Bobcats were led on the court by tournament MVP Kelly Lamberti, who recorded a team-high 14 kills and 13 digs.
Lamberti and middle blocker Lexie Hartnett were the only Ohio players named All-Tournament, despite the team’s dominance against its opposition.
Also standing out on the court for Ohio was freshman setter Abby Gilleland, who led the team with 34 assists and recorded seven kills. Outside hitter Chelsea Bilger had nine kills and two blocks.
Saturday’s match was special for Theis, who won his 100th match as head coach for Ohio against his former assistant Kyle Weindel, who coached with Theis the previous four seasons.
“I heard at the end of last year I was in the 90s, but I had totally forgot about coming up on the milestone,” Theis said. “What I like most about 100 wins is that it’s 100 for Ohio volleyball.”
The Bobcats will have a short turnaround this week when their two-week home stand comes to an end, as the team will travel to North Carolina for three matches in four days.
“We have to be efficient this coming trip,” Theis said. “If we are ball-controlling we are a lot for teams to handle. That combined with if we can block three balls a game, we will be good.”
cl027410@ohiou.edu
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