On an athletic high, Ohio (6-9, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) came into its second and final matchup against Toledo (10-7, 3-2 MAC). Friday’s match saw Ohio win its second straight and got Ohio coach Geoff Carlston to his 200th career win with the team. However, the run wouldn’t last, with the Bobcats dropping 1-3.
The first set was played at an irreplicable level of perfection for the Bobcats. After a 5-0 start from Ohio was met with 2 points from Toledo, Ohio rolled out a 15-0 run, led by sophomore libero Kendall Hickey at the service line.
Sophomore outside hitter Kam Hunt was incredibly effective early, scoring kills on five of her first six attempts and finishing with 17 kills. The remainder of the set was sloppier from the Bobcats, who had been playing in essentially a flow-state. Toledo played even with its opponent for the remainder of the set, but the lead had been built into an impenetrable wall, Ohio winning 25-7.
“The first set, that doesn’t happen,” Carlston said. “They played terrible and we played perfect … It’s just a matter of how do we sustain it?”
The question would go unanswered for the Bobcats, who allowed the Rockets to reach their point total from the previous set on the eleventh serve of the second set, getting out to an early lead.
Junior outside hitter Izzy Granger was tough to stop for Ohio, leading Toledo with 12 kills, but it was an all-around effort centered on putting a lid that propelled Toledo to the win. Ohio registered just three blocks on the match, allowing Toledo to log eight in comparison.
Although defense was an issue for Ohio, so was the versatility of its offensive attack. Ohio has relied on the talent of Hunt and junior Anna Kharchynska to generate points on the outside.
Carlston wanted this to be different, focusing on a middle attack, but 15 kills on a 40.7% hitting percentage between middle blockers Elizabeth Hoerlein and Emily Waddell was not effective enough.
“One of the things we wanted to do today was establish more of a middle attack,” Carlston said. “I don’t think we did that at the level we wanted to. We still relied on Kam and Anna.”
The second set would finish 25-16 in Toledo’s favor, with the third being much of the same. Ohio was able to keep it closer for stretches but was never able to take away Toledo’s lead, falling 25-17.
The fourth set saw more of a chance from Ohio, who held a lead that wasn’t 1-0 for the first time since the first set. Early on, it seemed as though Toledo would run away with the match, getting out to a quick 5-1 lead. However, jumpstarted by a Hunt kill, Ohio rattled off 9 of the next 10 points, taking a 10-6 lead.
Ohio would hold this lead comfortably until the score jumped to 13-8. From that point, Toledo mounted a 6-0 run to take a 1-point lead, which would prove difficult to get back.
Ohio remained competitive, eventually stealing advantage at 23-20 with a dominant stretch from Kharchynska. However, they would fall to the same mistakes, allowing the Rockets to find the holes in their defense after a service error, losing on the end of a 5-0 run.
“They played more aggressively .. and then you have to try and get back,” Carlston said. “We started getting back towards the end, but you’ve got to finish off the set.”
Ohio will spend its next week on the road, leaving Wednesday to take on Western Michigan and Northern Illinois on Thursday and Friday, playing two games in two days in two different states.
“They’re two very different teams … we’re not going to scout (Western Michigan) and go like ‘OK, it's the same against Northern,’” Carlston said. “It’ll be a challenge, for a young team especially.”
