Ohio(12-11, 7-4 Mid-American Conference) will travel to Toledo and Ball State on back-to-back days with the hopes of overtaking both in the overall MAC standings. These next two matches are crucial in determining seeding for the MAC tournament as these three teams occupy the third, fourth and fifth seeds.
With two wins this weekend, Ohio could drastically improve its rank in the MAC and as the season winds down, Ohio cannot afford to fall lower in the standings.
Ohio has been trending upwards recently winning seven out of its last 10 matches. Cementing this trend was back-to-back sweeps at Miami. One aspect of Ohio’s game that it needs to utilize if it wants to continue its winning streak would be its stellar defense. This defense has been spearheaded by Emily Waddell whose defensive efficiency as of late has been recognized with a MAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Match Information:
Opponent: Toledo (10-12, 8-3 MAC), Ball State(12-10, 9-2 MAC)
Location: Toledo, Muncie, IN
Dates and Times: Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.
Where to watch: ESPN +
Players to watch: Taylor Alt, Aniya Kennedy
Ohio will have its hands full with two dominant attackers this weekend. Taylor Alt has been the catalyst behind Toledo's impressive conference stint logging an impressive 22 kills in her most recent match against Akron. The all-time kill leader of Toledo has been nothing but dominant this season, putting up an impressive 344 kills up to this point in the season.
Ohio will also have to deal with the reigning MAC West Offensive Player of the Week in Ball State’s Aniya Kennedy. The redshirt freshman has been unstoppable recently with three of her last four matches with over 20 kills in what has been one of the best stints of her short career up to this point.
