Ohio (4-5) lit up The Convo Friday evening in its first game back home for a 3-0 sweep against Liberty (5-6).
The Bobcats' offense at the net was aggressive and energetic. Olivia Gardner was a standout with a career-high in blocks with six. Bryn Janke would also make her return to The Convo and start at setter for Ohio.
Ohio coach Geoff Carlston was ecstatic to be back home after playing in Los Angeles. He said he was proud of how Ohio played, pointing out outstanding leadership from Kam Hunt, who ended the match with 14 kills.
“I was really proud of just how we played in general,” Carlston said. “We played really good volleyball in California, and there was a bit of a hang up. We were tired. We were tired yesterday, two days ago. So yesterday we went kind of fun and loose, just to give us some juice. And so I thought that worked out. But our leadership tonight was great across the board.”
Set one
Darbi Ricketts would serve Ohio into an early lead for set one. Despite only scoring 5 points this match, those points would be essential for Ohio to pull ahead and secure the win for the first set.
Liberty would come back to tie 6-6, and both teams would remain within close range of each other until Ricketts would return to the service line for a 4-point run to put the Bobcats ahead 19-17. In Ohio’s first set at The Convo in over two weeks, it would finish with its smallest lead of the night, still looking to find its rhythm.
Carlston said even after playing well on the West Coast last weekend, it is always better to be back on the home court.
“It's a fun group to coach,” he said. “Coming in here, we did what we needed to do, and just winning and confidence. And against a really good team, I was really proud of how we played … I mean, for a young team, they showed a lot of maturity tonight.”
Anna Kharchynska would put the ball down on the other side of the net to secure the set for Ohio, ending at a close score of 25-22.
Set two
The second set would start with a run from Liberty early on. An attack error by Hunt would put the Flames up 2-7, forcing a timeout. However, Hunt looked to extinguish the lead out of the break, serving 8 points in a row to pull ahead 10-7.
Hunt would stand out as a leader on the team this evening. Although she tends to shine at the net, she also shined at the service line.
“After we score … just get the huddle, go back to the line, kind of get their mind right,” Hunt said. “Just a couple deep breaths. I honestly just tell myself to keep my arm high, like I just think, ‘Reach, reach, reach.’”
An Ohio timeout late in set two would set the Bobcats’ eyes on the win, exploding ahead and forcing Liberty errors en route to a 25-17 final score.
Set three
Ohio would run away with the third and final set for the match. The Bobcats would only allow a Flames lead at the first point in the set, and they would continue to fall farther behind as Ohio’s energy only grew from there.
The Bobcats would end the match with nine blocks as opposed to the Flames' two. Gardner commented on how she was improving her defense at the net thanks to the past weekend in Los Angeles, specifically citing her preparation and set up as a key component factoring into her career night.
Ohio didn’t look back once Liberty was out of sight, extending its lead to a 10-point gap, ending 25-15 to secure the match. The Convo rose to its feet with excitement as Ohio broke its losing streak at home and looks to continue the energy throughout the rest of the weekend.
