Ohio wrapped up the Bobcat Invitational on Saturday with a thrilling five-set loss to High Point.
Each set of the match was decided by two points — 23-25, 26-24, 26-24, 24-26, 17-15.
High Point won the Bobcat Invitational, but the Bobcats played short-handed with injuries to key players.
Coach Deane Webb was pleased with his team, even though the Bobcats finished 1-2 on the weekend, losing in three sets to Georgia and defeating Oklahoma in five sets.
“It was a great response,” Webb said. “Especially where we were yesterday when we started (against Georgia) to now, we’re a radically different team.”
Bouncing back
Friday morning was rough for the Bobcats.
After being swept by Georgia, they had to play Oklahoma later that evening. Trailing two sets to none, the Bobcats came back to win the final three sets Friday night to beat the Sooners.
There were doubts when Ohio fell behind 8-2 in the third set, but the Bobcats rallied for the win.
Overcoming adversity
Continuing to play without their two captains, Jaime Kosiorek and Katie Nelson, and outside hitter Carley Remmers, the Bobcats were forced to play some players out of position Saturday.
Stephanie Olman played on the outside for the first time since her sophomore year of high school. She’s normally a setter for the Bobcats.
With injuries and players out of position, going five sets in two straight matches was impressive.
“There was a lot of resilience shown,” Webb said. “Just to be able to have that many people out of position and able to function against a very good High Point team.”
Swinging Stephens
The shuffle of the Bobcats’ lineup allowed sophomore outside hitter Lizzie Stephens to do the bulk of the attacking.
Webb didn’t realize how many attacks Stephens had against High Point until after the match.
“Wow, 85 swings is a ton of swings,” Webb said.
But playing five sets in consecutive games, the Bobcats’ prime option for attacks looked tired toward the end. Webb even cited her fatigue as the match went on.
Next?
The Bobcats will play Marshall on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in The Convo.
