Ohio (8-11, 4-4 Mid-American Conference) took down Kent State (1-17, 0-8 MAC) Tuesday night in The Convo three sets to one. Among the display of aggressive offense at the net for a whopping total of 65 kills in the match, Kam Hunt surpassed 300 kills this season and Makenna Schafer beat her career high in kills for a total of seven this match.
Ohio coach Geoff Carlston echoed this, saying the front row was fueled for success during this match, specifically the last three sets.
“It felt like we were swimming, you know, both teams,” Carlston said. “It was an interesting match. I think, you know, both teams are pretty tired, you know … Makenna did a great job helping us out, took some really important swings in big moments.”
Set one:
The beginning of set one was rocky for Ohio, as coach Carlston called an early timeout, calling for his team to “wake up” from the sideline. Ohio errors would give Kent the early jump on the lead and it would remain that way until the very end of set one.
Kent led 18-15 when the Bobcats began to turn the game in their favor. Offense at the net really began to pick up. Ohio would take its first lead of the match at 22-21.
Following two kills from Kam Hunt, the set laid in the hands of the referees after Kent would challenge the last play of the set, claiming there was a touch on a ball that landed out. However, the play would stand on the court, and Ohio would take set one 25-23.
Set two:
Set two would show off Ohio’s offensive endeavors in the front row and create a comfortable lead to cushion the set for the Bobcats. Only eight errors would be made in the entire set by both teams, in addition to 29 kills from both sides.
Exerting energy while playing fast, aggressive volleyball can become exhausting quickly, but Hunt and Schafer both claimed their teammates kept them on their feet.
“I feed off of other people here … and I know that Kam agrees with that a little bit, and I was feeding off of her when she was in the back row,” Schafer said. “Kendall helps a lot. Just feeling the presence of other players and hearing from them while I'm in the game really helps me a lot.”
Keeping the Golden Flashes far from the lead, the Bobcats took off with set two, swinging at every ball Chariti McKeller and Bryn Janke set their way. Kent would barely enter double digits as Ohio won set two 25-13.
Set three:
The third set would mimic the beginning of set one, and Ohio’s grip on the lead was brief as Kent’s energy overflowed onto the court from its sideline, cheering at every kill. Coach Carlston commented on how he keeps the team up if they’re falling behind.
“We got to win way more than we are right now,” Carlston said. “I know they want to win. We're trying to teach them how to win … If we're struggling on the passing, we'll kind of focus on that. So just depends. You hope you say the right stuff at the right times.”
Ohio would slip a little in set three and a good number of errors would give Kent enough points to take the set, 25-15.
Set four:
Hunt, Kharchynska and Schafer would dominate the net in the final set of this match, finding the perfect spot for each kill. In a closer set than the last, a serving run from Hunt would pull Ohio ahead 20-13.
Hunt mentioned the importance of not just playing the part on the court, but looking it too, emphasizing coach Carlston’s words on playing volleyball with confidence.
“We just talked about walking around the court, portraying positive energy, just confidence, walking around like we're going to win this game, and we knew we were the better team,” Hunt said. “They have their punches, and we threw our punches. So I think just ultimately, playing our speed and not focusing on what they were doing.”
Elizabeth Horlein would seal the deal on this match for Ohio with a kill to put the game away 25-19.
After putting away Kent State, Ohio has a quick turnaround this weekend as it will travel to Michigan for its next two matches against Eastern Michigan. The team will continue to play with aggression at the net and try out new rotations as MAC play progresses.
“One match at a time, we're committing to each other, we're committed to growth,” Hunt said. “Everything we're doing is aggressive, whether it's an aggressive air like we're still getting momentum, we're still getting stuff out of it.”
