Ohio Volleyball (0-0, 0-0 MAC) will head down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to open its season at the LD & B Invitational. James Madison (0-0, 0-0 SBC) will serve as the host this weekend, and the four teams are all mid-major foes with championship aspirations in their respective conferences.
Last season, the Bobcats went 20-12, including a 13-5 mark in Mid-American Conference matches. Returning players include middle blockers Caitlin O’Farrell and Elizabeth Hoerlein; setters Tria McLean and Parker Kwiatkowski; and defensive specialists Maci Watrous and Sam Steele. The experienced Bobcats are looking to win the MAC for the first time since 2015.
All three of Ohio’s first matches will be played as a part of the LD & B Invitational, a round-robin style tournament in which the four teams all play and the team with the best record is crowned “champion.”
Match 1
Opponent: UMBC (0-0, 0-0 American East)
Date and time: Aug. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
UMBC is coming off of a very successful year last season, winning the American East and making it to the NCAA Tournament. For UMBC, this season will be an opportunity to establish itself as one of the winningest teams among the mid-major ranks. UMBC has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments under head coach Cristina Robertson, who took over in 2018.
Player to watch: Mia Bilusic
Bilusic has been an impact player for the retrievers ever since she touched campus. Bilusic earned her spot on First-Team American East as well as the AVCA All-Region Team last season. As a freshman in 2021, she won conference Rookie of the Year and First-Team American East. Her accolades go on, but her statistics are just as impressive. She had a team-leading 399 kills and 44 service aces, also first on the team.
Match 2
Opponent: James Madison (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Date and time: Aug. 26 at 4 p.m.
Watch live: ESPN+
Live stats are located here
James Madison is led by head coach Lauren Steinbrecher who won Sun Belt Coach of the Year as James Madison went 24-5 overall and 15-1 in conference matches before being defeated in the NCAA Tournament. The 2022 season was incredibly successful and the majority of contributors return for another season where James Madison opens the season receiving votes in the AVCA Rankings.
Player to watch: Sophie Davis
Davis is one of the Dukes’s best players, as her individual impact has been key in the Dukes becoming a mid-major powerhouse. The fifth-year middle blocker has won nearly every award possible, being the reigning Defensive Player of the Year for the Sun Belt while also landing on the First-Team All-SBC. Davis will be a player that opponents circle before matches to attempt to minimize her impact.
Match 3
Opponent: High Point
Date and time: Aug. 27 at 11:30 a.m.
Ohio will be faced with another difficult matchup in its third match of the tournament. High Point won last year’s Big South title and was picked as the favorite in the conference preseason poll. High Point is under the watch of Head Coach Ryan Meek, who arrived in 2019 and has won 20+ matches every season, except for the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. High Point is the third-straight opponent for Ohio to have made the NCAA Tournament in 2022. High Point is the only team that Ohio has faced before. Ohio lost the previous match in 2017.
Player to watch: Dylan Maberry
Recently voted as the Big South Preseason Player of the Year, Maberry has been one of the main contributors to the winning atmosphere under Meek. Maberry was a First-Team All-Conference member last season for the second straight season. Maberry’s stellar season in 2022 followed a 2021 campaign that saw her win the Big South's Player of the Year award.
