Several weekends ago, Ohio defeated rivals Miami and Bowling Green to solidify their spot at the helm of the Mid-American Conference, but their time as the top team was short-lived, as the Bobcats once again have just a share of first place.
Ohio (17-9, 12-2 MAC) defeated Kent State in straight sets this past Thursday before traveling to Central Michigan on Saturday for a match against the lone MAC team the Bobcats had yet to play.
But after five sets of back-and-forth volleyball against the Chippewas, the Bobcats saw their 12-match winning streak and sole possession of first place come to an end, with just two more matches before the MAC tournament.
“I think we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we just didn’t have everyone going,” said Ohio coach Ryan Theis. “The biggest thing was that we didn’t have our offense clicking on all cylinders for the entire weekend.”
Six weeks had come and gone between Ohio’s only conference losses, with the first loss occurring against Bowling Green in the conference opener. Ohio has defeated every team in the MAC except for Central Michigan.
While the Bobcats were in the midst of their longest winning streak since 2007 —when they won 15 straight — the Chippewas had lost six consecutive matches after starting the conference schedule with six wins in the first eight matches.
Despite the loss, sophomore outside hitter Kelly Lamberti had a dominant weekend at the net while the rest of the team was struggling on the attack, Theis said.
Lamberti recorded 19 kills in each match this past weekend, leading all players in both efforts. During the game against Kent State, she added 14 digs along with her team-high of kills, which was her season-high in both categories for a three-set match.
But she upped the ante Saturday, notching the same number of kills and digs, most of which came during late runs to allow Ohio back into a set.
“Kelly had a great weekend and did everything she could to keep our team in each set,” Theis said. “She wanted the ball, and when she got the ball, she was able to do her thing and help us out.”
During a weekend when kills were hard to come by from anyone aside from Lamberti, the Bobcats were dominant at the net defensively. Ohio, which is ranked No. 25 in the nation in blocking, recorded totals of nine and 17 rejections in the pair of matches, respectively.
Ohio will play the second leg of its four-match road trip this weekend at Buffalo and Akron, which will be the team’s final tune-ups before the conference tournament.
“We’re tied with (Bowling Green) for first place, but we need to focus on us now and try to get some wins on the road heading into the last weekend of play,” Theis said.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
