Much like its European counterpart, the city of Geneva — in Ohio, that is — will be the neutral site of the Mid-American Conference volleyball tournament next weekend.
In the quarterfinal match up, No. 2 Ohio (21-9, 13-3 MAC) plays No. 7 Miami (16-14, 7-9 MAC).
Coach Ryan Theis said seeding in a tournament is a mixed bag and isn’t a perfect measure of a team’s performance.
“You never know what seeds will come in and play extremely well,” he said. “Seedings, I think, have very little to do with it.”
Theis added that in the MAC every team has played close matches or beaten a team that is seeded higher, and that has teams believing that they can win the tournament.
Often, tournament play comes down to who plays well at the right time. Miami has won four straight matches, and Ohio has won its last six outings.
There are no secrets between these rivals, but it will have a different feel than rivalry games that these teams are used to playing.
“It won’t be the same as the last time that we played them. Totally neutral environment,” Theis said. “I think they are a little more passionate about the rivalry than we are because they have more kids from (Ohio). I’m sure they will give us everything we can handle.”
Ohio has won seven of the last eight MAC Tournament titles, with the only shortfall coming in 2007 against the RedHawks.
After missing out on the regular season title by one match, the focus is making up for that by winning the title.
“We plan to and expect to win each match we play, but at the same time, we understand you run into hot teams at this time, and you don’t always come away with the win.” Theis said. “Fortunately, the three years I’ve been here, we have.”
The RedHawks seem to be streaking at the right time, but Ohio is establishing more consistency in all six facets of the game: serving, setting, attacking, passing, blocking and digging.
“I think to win it all, we are going to have to have at least five of the six phases going, and we’re going to have to be above average,” Theis said.
He said that if senior middle blocker Katie Post hits a .360 in regular-season play, she would need to hit a .370 or a .380 to stay on pace with other squads that will step up their level of play.
“You are always going to be playing a team that is playing their best, and you need to over-achieve a bit to win it,” Theis said.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
