Coming off a weekend that coach Ryan Theis called “somewhat disappointing,” the Bobcats will look to bounce back at home against the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Ohio (15-3, 5-1 MAC) suffered its first MAC loss to Kent State last Thursday, and Theis said the Bobcats need to stop giving up so many runs to the opposition.
“I don’t think you can (keep giving up runs) and win very often,” Theis said. “When you go down five, or give up seven in a row, you’re fighting a huge battle.”
After the loss, the Bobcats fell out of this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association poll Monday. Ohio sits at No. 26 with 87 votes after being ranked No. 18 with 415 votes last week.
There was a silver lining from last weekend that granted the Bobcats a split of their two matches on the road.
Graduate student middle blocker Alexis Pinson was named the MAC East defensive player of the week for the second-consecutive week and the third time this season. She recorded 24 kills, nine digs and 5.5 blocks last weekend.
Toledo (11-9, 4-2 MAC) will take the floor against Ohio on Friday in The Convo and look to extend its conference win streak to five games. The Rockets defeated Northern Illinois and Western Michigan last weekend, each in five sets.
Rockets freshman libero Ellen Hays was named the MAC West defensive player of the week Monday, as she recorded 50 digs during last weekend.
Toledo handed Ball State its only MAC loss in four sets two weeks ago.
“(Toledo’s) seniors are playing like they are sick of losing,” Theis said. “They’ve missed the conference tournament the last two years, and they have four seniors out there; this is the year that they want to do something and they’ve looked very good since that first weekend.”
Ball State (17-4, 5-1 MAC) will then enter The Convo to hit the court against Ohio on Saturday. Since dropping its only conference match in Toledo, Ball State has won each of its past three matches to put Cardinals in first place in the West.
“Ball State passes extremely well, so that’s going to be a handful,” Theis said. “When the setters at the net with the ball every time, it’s hard to get stops. We will have to serve and block well to beat them.”
He continued to say that not many MAC teams are winning on the road this year, so these home games are very important.
“We play really well at home, our fans really help,” freshman setter Brooke Coleman said. “Saturday is the ‘black-out’ game, so really bringing in a lot of fans will help us play well and it should help our season get better, too.”
ab109410@ohiou.edu
@buschy6391
