After falling to Ball State in five sets on Thursday night, the Bobcats came into Friday afternoon’s game two with an edge and desire to send the Cardinals packing early. Ohio dominated, sweeping the Cardinals 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 26-24) to improve to 5-4 on the season.
Mariana is missing
The Bobcats were without junior outside hitter Mariana Rodrigues on Friday for the second straight match. Before Thursday, Rodrigues had played in every other match this season, making her presence on the court known. In seven matches, Rodrigues put up a total 61 kills, averaging 2.54 kills per set. She has been a strong part of the Bobcats offense thus far so one could wonder why she has not been a part of Ohio’s two game series vs. Ball State.
Emily Margolies makes an appearance
Emily Margolies has finally gotten her time to show off on the court. Margolies was redshirted during the 2019 season and was yet to play in a match this season. Despite this, she didn’t show any rust. Margolies looked as though she had been playing in the front row all season, putting up 10 kills for the Bobcats. The court chemistry between Margolies and Tia Jimerson at the net seemed to be strong as well, the both of them worked together to put up a handful of double blocks.
Free balls
Despite sweeping the match, the Bobcats sent a lot more free balls over the net then than they have in previous matches. The Bobcats were aggressive when they needed to be, but there were many times when they would simply pass the ball over the net from the back row or tip it over. This may be attributed to some of the Bobcats defensive struggles on Friday. Getting a strong attack starts with a perfectly placed pass to the setter, and other than freshman Sam Steele, Ohio’s defense had trouble getting their feet set and getting passes directly to setter Vera Giacomazzi.
