Ohio traveled to take on Eastern Michigan and split the matches, taking the first 3-1 and falling in the latter 3-2. The two teams competed in very intense sets and put each other to the test.
Friday night kicked off the hard-fought action. Both sides made many errors in the first set, but Ohio pushed through, grabbing an early lead and capitalizing on Eastern Michigan's mistakes to take the set 25-16.
Junior Anna Kharchynska and sophomore Kam Hunt, who had six and seven kills respectively, took over the second set. This dominant impact by the two outside hitters helped Ohio take a 2-0 lead in the match by a score of 25-21.
The Eagles slowed down a hard-charging Bobcat team, taking the third set 25-22, which extended the match to a fourth set.
The Bobcats would not let this one slip away. They took the first 8 points in the fourth set and would not let the lead diminish down the stretch. They would run away with it, winning 25-14, as graduate student Elizabeth Hoerlein finished it off with a kill.
The Bobcats would win this match 3-1.
Ohio relied heavily on its front line and strong performances from Kharchynska, Hunt, Olivia Gardner and Hoerlein, who all had ten or more kills.
The ability of the Bobcats to play as a team was seen in full force on Friday. The team could not have been so successful at the net without the setting of freshman Bryn Janke with 26 assists and junior Chariti McKeller with 25 of her own. On the defensive end, sophomore Kendall Hickey led the way with 27 digs and Hoerlein defended the strings with three blocks.
These impressive efforts helped Ohio to a 3-1 victory heading into Saturday afternoon for the second matchup.
Saturday’s matchup was even more tightly fought than its predecessor. The teams played five sets and fought hard for every point.
The first seat went to the Eagles, who would need to find 29 points to outlast the Bobcats. This match never saw Ohio lead as it fought the whole time to claw its way back.
The second set was full of runs and back-and-forth play from both teams. The front line stepped up to help Ohio take the lead, and once it did, they took control and capitalized on some Eastern Michigan errors to close it out 25-21, tying the match 1-1.
After a huge set win, Ohio gained momentum and found another gear. Freshman Sierra Evans stepped up and got four kills for Ohio in a pivotal set, in which Ohio found victory 25-20 and took its second set, now only needing one more for victory.
Eastern Michigan would not go away easily on Saturday; it used grit and resilience around the net in a down-to-the-wire fourth set. The defensive pressure and forcing of Ohio errors were the difference in pushing this match to a climactic fifth set between these two fierce competitors. With the set tied at 23, Eastern finished strong, scoring the following 2 points and winning 25-23.
The fifth set was all square at 15 and the teams had fought hard all night, so it felt fitting for it to come down to a win-by-two situation. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the ball would not fall their way as the Eagles scored the next two and finished off the set by a score of 17-15.
Eastern won the second match 3-2.
Ohio saw some excellent performances throughout the evening, highlighted by Kharchynska's 23 kills. Once again, McKeller and Janke were the best passers to set up the scoring, with 28 and 26 assists on the afternoon respectively. The defense was once again led by Hoerlein's four blocks and Hunt's 14 digs.
Ohio (10-12, 6-5 MAC) would split the weekend series against Eastern Michigan and will continue to keep its steady MAC play rolling into the upcoming weekend.
