For the second time this season, Ohio finished a weekend with a perfect record and a tournament victory, after sweeping its three matches in the Western Kentucky University Invitational.
The Bobcats are now 8-1 on the season, which is the program’s best start to a campaign since 2005, when the club began with the same record. Ohio has also won 26 of its 31 sets on the year.
On Friday, Ohio played its first match of the weekend against UNLV, which the Bobcats swept in straight-sets.
Freshman outside hitter Katie Horton led the Bobcats with a career-high of 11 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Karin Bull added nine kills and two blocks, while junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti recorded eight kills and six digs.
The Bobcats then faced off against a ranked team for the third time on the season, when they defeated No. 21 Western Kentucky in straight sets and moved to 2-1 against ranked opponents this year.
“(Western Kentucky) are an extremely good team and a very good program,” said Coach Ryan Theis. “We needed to bring our offense, and we did that. We got points from all areas of the floor.”
Lamberti led the Bobcats on the floor with a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore setter Abby Gilleland notched 38 assists and redshirt junior outside hitter Liis Kullerkann added nine kills.
During the final game of the tournament against Virginia, the Bobcats were at a 2-0 disadvantage at halftime, but rallied to win the final three sets and clinch the comeback victory in five sets.
The win was Ohio’s first this year that was not in straight-sets.
“We didn’t want our really good weekend to end with a loss,” Lamberti said. “We just knew that we had to get it done, and we did.”
Horton registered double-digit kills for the third consecutive match, as she had 10 kills and five digs, while Lamberti finished with a team-high 16 kills and 14 digs, and Kullerkann notched a career-best 14 kills in the win against Virginia.
Gilleland added 46 assists, and sophomore libero Meredith Ashy notched her eighth-consecutive match with double-digit digs with a season-best 23.
Horton was named the WKU Invitational’s Most Valuable Player after recording 31 kills during the three matches. Kullerkann was also named to the all-tournament team after recording 29 kills.
“We hadn’t had a situation where we lost a set and came back and win yet this year,” Theis said. “The fact that we have proven that we can win a five-gamer, and more importantly come back from down 2-0, shows we have resiliency.”
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