Ohio traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and DeKalb, Illinois, for a pair of one-off matches against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. Ohio defeated both teams to tack on two wins late in its Mid-American Conference schedule.
Friday
Ohio began the weekend with a match against Western Michigan. It struggled in the first set, recording nine errors and a hitting percentage of -.031. Western Michigan, on the other hand, had a hitting percentage of .161 and made just five errors. Ohio couldn’t find a groove, and Western Michigan went on a 5-1 run to claim the first set 25-20.
But, the Bobcats recovered. They won the next three sets, and their hitting percentage never fell below .239 after set one. By the end of the match, the Bobcats led in every statistical category.
Caroline Clippard led both teams with 16 kills. She was followed by Maggie Nedoma with 13 and Olivia Margolies with 12. The trio was responsible for 70.6% of Ohio's total kills Friday. Only one Western Michigan player — Meredith Phillips — recorded double-digit kills.
Caitlin O’Farrell also notched a career-high two service aces Friday.
Saturday
Ohio kept its match brief Saturday. It defeated Northern Illinois 3-0 for its third sweep of the season.
The Bobcats dominated the entire match. They outhit the Huskies in all three sets and exited the match with a .333 hitting percentage. They also made just 14 errors, their second-fewest in a match this season.
Ohio recorded just four blocks compared to Northern Illinois’ eight, but its defense still shined. It held Northern Illinois to under 20 points in sets one and three. Sam Steele led the defense with 16 digs.
Clippard and Nedoma once again led both teams in kills with 13 and 12, respectively. Clippard leads the Bobcats with 303 total kills this season.
