After suffering its first Mid-American Conference loss Thursday, Ohio responded with a balanced attack to defeat Eastern Michigan and remain tied for first place in the conference.
Ohio (15-3, 5-1 MAC) defeated Eastern Michigan (11-10, 1-5 MAC) in four sets Saturday, as it moved to 6-0 under coach Ryan Theis against the Eagles.
Junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti notched her 900th career dig during the second set Saturday, as she is one of just three players in program history to notch 1,000 kills and 900 digs in their careers.
During the first set, the Bobcats trailed by as much as 11-3, but the team rallied during the set to finish on top, 25-23. After their first-set victory, the Bobcats blew out the Eagles, as Ohio claimed the second set and held Eastern Michigan to only seven points.
“We started very poorly, but I was really happy with our team’s ability to be able to turn that around and get some point runs and win (the first) game,” Theis said. “I think that kind of put a real damper on (Eastern Michigan) in game two, so I thought we handled that very well.”
Lamberti posted a double-double for the sixth time in the past seven matches, as she led the Bobcats with 12 kills and 18 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Karin Bull and graduate student middle blocker Alexis Pinson each tallied 11 kills for the Bobcats, as Bull also added nine block assists, which totaled up to 4.5 blocks.
Sophomore setter Abby Gilleland notched her third double-double of the season, with a team-high 43 assists, 17 digs, seven kills and three aces. Sophomore libero Meredith Ashy registered a team-high 20 digs and two aces, while freshman libero Brooke Coleman added a career-best 15 digs for Ohio.
After dropping a match in Kent on Thursday, Ohio realized that it needed to provide a healthy balance in order to win Saturday, and they did just that, as six Bobcats finished with double digit kills or digs.
The team features six new players this season, five of whom are freshmen, so even at this point in the season Ohio needs to stay focused on the task at hand.
“It’s a mental battle right now, and we have to fight it together,” Gilleland said. “I think tonight we came out and fought together. I think we’re finding ourselves, and we’re building each other back up and going in the right direction.”
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