The volleyball season has lived up to the expectations and goals of Ohio coach Ryan Theis and his staff, as the Bobcats battled adversity throughout the season.
Ohio started the season by defeating then-No. 8 Oregon the first weekend, and despite minor obstacles, it has not looked back since.
Ohio (27-5) compiled the most wins during Theis’ tenure at the helm, tying its win total from the 2009 season. The Bobcats also earned 17 wins against Mid-American Conference opponents, including three sweeps in as many days en route to a MAC Tournament title.
The Bobcats completed each of their goals from the beginning of the season, which included winning the MAC regular-season title, tournament title and earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
“In the beginning of the season (coach) broke it down to us on what we needed to do to be playing in December,” graduate student middle blocker Alexis Pinson said. “It wasn’t too overwhelming during the season and we knew that if we were able to hit each of the milestones then we would be able to be still playing in December.”
The team has been full of balance, as multiple players were recognized by the conference for their play, including the MAC player of the year and setter of the year: sophomore Abby Gilleland.
Gilleland was named First Team All-MAC with Pinson, Kelly Lamberti and Karin Bull, while Katie Horton earned All-MAC freshman team honors.
Pinson contributed to Ohio’s league-leading nine MAC player of the week awards by earning the defensive player of the week four times, while Gilleland garnered offensive player of the week honors three times.
“It’s been great to see everybody that I’ve recruited and tried to bring in, and the things that we’ve seen with the development of the players,” Theis said. “Gaining the success has been really rewarding, personally. We recruited kids who we thought would want to win, play to win and buy into our system, and I think they’ve done a really good job here.”
Theis earned the MAC coach of the year for the second time in his career and has won 144 matches, placing him just one victory away from becoming the outright winningest coach in program history.
Ohio will head to Lexington, Ky., to play Michigan State on Friday for its first NCAA Tournament match since 2010. The Bobcats have advanced past the first round just four times in eight appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2005.
“If you would have told me we’d go 27-5 (with the injuries), I would have told you that you’re nuts,” Theis said. “I’ve been so thrilled with their efforts. The people that have been stepping up when someone goes down have been terrific.”
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