Ohio's (14-15, 10-8 Mid-American Conference) season was on the line when it arrived to face Bowling Green (21-8, 16-2 MAC) this weekend. The team needed to win one of the two matches to guarantee they would earn a seat at the table in the MAC Tournament.
Friday night, play started slowly for Ohio, which would be swept by a Bowling Green team looking to grab home-court advantage for the upcoming tournament. Bowling Green hit the ball efficiently, over .300, allowing it to pull the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-17 respectively.
The Bobcats knew they needed to fight in the third and did so by grabbing the lead and taking it late up by 2 points, 21-19. However, the Falcons capitalized with stellar defense, having nine blocks throughout the contest. They used this defensive presence to close the door 25-23.
With Toledo sweeping its series against Kent State, Ohio needed to win its next match to make the MAC Tournament.
Early in the second match, Ohio spread the ball around well with five players recording a kill as Ohio fought down 9-8. Unfortunately, this pivotal first set went in the direction of Bowling Green. Even with a late surge from Ohio to make it close, Bowling Green won 25-23 and took a 1-0 lead in the match.
Service errors were a problem as both teams had committed five each through only the beginning of this second set. The Falcons fell back on their defense with a block to grab a 9-5 lead as they attempted to pull away.
Bowling Green started to roll with multiple blocks and great sets to extend its lead up to nearly double digits at 21-12. Ohio would muster 2 more points but could not bring this one back, falling 25-14, now needing a reverse sweep to save the season.
Early in the third set, neither team could find a way to pull away, being even at 7-7. The first glimpse of daylight for either team came off a service ace from sophomore Kam Hunt as Ohio grabbed a 12-9 lead, the biggest of the set so far. The defense for Ohio also stepped up with a block to hold the lead and another service ace by junior Anna Kharchynska extended it again to 16-12.
Kharchynska stepped up late for the Bobcats, taking 3 of their last 5 points, taking this match to a fourth set with a 25-22 win.
The spark that ended the third set carried over to the beginning of the fourth, as Ohio led 7-3 early off back-to-back blocks by freshman Bryn Janke and sophomore Olivia Gardner. Ohio kept it rolling with a couple of kills by Gardner who kept the lead strong at 11-6.
The lead continued to grow with Ohio doubling Bowling Green up late with almost a .600 hitting percentage and an 18-9 lead. They would finish hitting at .583 and wrapped up this set with a defiant run of points and defense that helped them hold the nine-point lead and head to a make-or-break fifth set after a 25-16 win.
In the fifth set, Bowling Green jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and looked like they would not be denied of home court. Ohio held tough, only trailing by a few, but time was dwindling as the match drew toward a close. The fight that Ohio showed was strong and showed promise for this team heading into next season, but they would fall short 15-9 in the fifth set and would see the season end in heartbreak.
