Coming off a disappointing effort against MAC opponent Buffalo last week, Ohio is focusing on correcting its mental mistakes against fellow MAC opponent Ball State.
Heading into last weekend, the Bobcats hadn't had much reason to hang their heads after leaving the pool.
They had won three of their last four meets, and even their lone "loss" had been a strong second place showing at the University of Louisville Invitational, finishing only behind national powerhouse and host, Louisville.
After Saturday, however, the team bus ride home had a very different vibe.
"There was a lot of discussion on the bus," head coach Rachel Komisarz-Baugh said. "There was a little bit of yelling."
The Bobcats were frustrated with their performance at Buffalo and their coaches agreed with them. Ohio lost to Buffalo 185-112.
"That was a rough meet for the team, I'm not gonna lie," Komisarz-Baugh said. "They did not swim well. After the first couple of races didn't go the way we had expected, I think we lost a lot of confidence and we rolled over a little bit."
"It was a bit of a learning lesson," freshman Corrin Van Lanen added.
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Komisarz-Baugh said she has conducted individual meetings with her team leading up to this week's meet against Ball State to figure out what went wrong last week, and how to prevent it from happening again.
Her solution?
"At this point, it's really more psychological," Komisarz-Baugh said. "We're not preparing for the bad. I think if things were to go great from the start you would see a different team. But as soon as something goes wrong, we're not able to bounce back from that."
Komisarz-Baugh said she has been working with the team on finishing races stronger in practice by having the girls race each other with handicaps more. She said she wants them to get used to the mindset of chasing someone and being chased.
Komisarz-Baugh, like she has many times throughout the season, said her team has been putting together some great times in practice, but the team needs to be able to replicate their performances at practice during meets more consistently.
The Bobcats will try to get back on track this weekend not only for their goal of a MAC Championship, but for their senior class. Ohio's meet Saturday against Ball State in the Aquatic Center is senior night.
"They've put four years into this program," Van Lanen said. "They want to end on a good note, and I want to help them win (on Saturday) as much as possible."
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