The most pivotal stretch of the season was upon the Ohio team (10-13, 6-6 Mid-American Conference) when the MAC-leading team, Central Michigan (19-5, 10-2 MAC) came to town this weekend. Ohio hoped to find a win, with the MAC Tournament getting closer and closer but came up short, losing 3-2.
Ohio got straight to work grabbing an early 8-4 lead on the back of two service aces, one each from sophomore Kam Hunt and graduate student Elizabeth Hoerlein. The Chippewas would not go away easily cutting the lead in half to 15-13 with some nifty work by both sides, but the Bobcats were still prevailing behind steady job on the front line by Hunt and junior Anna Kharchynska.
“Anna and Kam have been our go-to,” Ohio coach Geoff Carlston said.
Both sides would get a bit sloppy with both teams committing a few errors which they would work more in favor of Ohio, who would re-extend the lead to 20-15. The difference of 5 points would stay as Ohio finished set one with two kills by sophomore Olivia Gardner.
The Bobcats looked to keep it rolling into the second set and did so early, taking a 7-2 lead behind 2 kills from Kharchynska. However, the Chippewas would find a groove and cut the lead back to only one at 8-7.
The defensive presence of Central Michigan shined through as they blocked Ohio and forced some errors to tie the set at 13-13. The error bug was all over The Convo as the teams exchanged them back and forth, before being halted by a Gardner kill, taking a 16-15 lead for Ohio.
The Chippewas moved the ball well, but Kharchynska and Hoerlein combined to send the final ball back and collect a 3-point win, 25-22. They were now just one set away from the win, up 2-0.
The third set was hard-fought through the first few points and Central Michigan came out firing. Ohio fell behind 13-7 as the team was stopped at the net by Central Michigan’s front line, recording two blocks and forcing a few errors to gather that lead.
An Ohio challenge was unsuccessful and pushed the lead to 17-10, allowing Central Michigan to ultimately win the set 25-17, bringing about a fourth set.
Following an early Chippewas run, the Bobcats would go on a run of their own which was powered by Kharchynska, who had two kills and a block to bring the set to 13-13. Both teams would exchange points, but Central Michigan would end up taking an 18-16 lead.
Ohio tried to fall back on its front line and found some success to cut the lead to one, but Central Michigan would not allow a comeback and took the set 25-21, bringing about a fifth set.
The teams would exchange points up to a 7-7 tie. Ohio fell back on Kharchynska and Hunt to produce and did successfully, but still could not shake Central Michigan.
The set would come down to the very end, but the Chippewas would close it out 15-13, and take the match 3-2.
“You got a team that just played their butts off, and losing 15-13 again, like that’s two in a row, and it's hard. We have a young team,” Carlston said. “We need to get our middle the ball more. We need to spread out our offense.”
Ohio had some nice performances tonight, with Kharchynska’s 20 kills, followed by 18 from Hunt and 12 from Gardner. Freshman Bryn Janke led the team with 35 assists. Furthermore, Hoerlein scored 3 service aces, a new career high. On defense, Kharchynska had four blocks and Hunt had 15 digs.
Ohio will be back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Central Michigan, looking to rebound from the loss and bring home a win.
