In Ohio’s (4-5) victory against Liberty (5-6), the team recorded its third-highest total blocks of the season with nine, despite the match ending in just three sets. Six of those came in a career-high performance from Olivia Gardner, a sophomore who recorded one solo block and five assists.
Gardner transferred from Loyola Chicago to Ohio in the Spring, where she quickly embedded herself in the volleyball program. Despite being with the program for such a short period, Gardner’s grown tremendously through just nine games with the Bobcats.
“At the beginning of the season, my block was my biggest struggle,” Gardner said. “This past weekend, I learned a lot in California, and today, I just had confidence with it.”
The team’s past weekend in Los Angeles saw Ohio go 0-3, losing matches to teams like No. 23 USC despite playing relatively well. However, the team’s performance against Liberty as a whole showed the mark of improvement.
“We played awesome in California, we just couldn’t close the door against three top-25 teams essentially,” Ohio coach Geoff Carlston said. “Liberty is a good team, and I think we played really well tonight overall. Our blocking picked up … and now we have to figure out, ‘how do we keep building on that?’”
Prior to tonight’s breakout performance, Gardner, who stands 6-foot-1, had tallied eleven blocks through 27 sets played. Her performance against Liberty accounted for over half of her previous total, showcasing the value of her mid-season improvements.
“One thing I’ve been working on a lot with (Ohio assistant coach Steve Jones) is my setup, and reading the angle of the hitter,” Gardner said. “My biggest focus tonight was watching where the hitter was coming in and lining up with my right hand on her head … it worked out well tonight.”
Gardner also came close to her career high in kills of eight with six on the night, including a beautiful overpass kill in the middle of one of Ohio’s most dominant stretches of the match.
Gardner, alongside opposite hitter Anna Kharchynska and middle blocker Elizabeth Hoerlein contributed 19 of the Bobcats’ 39 total kills against the Flames, marking a huge two-way night on the right side of the net.
That production came in large part due to the tone set by outside hitter Kam Hunt in the first set, who recorded seven of her 14 total kills in the opening period. Hunt’s tone-setting prowess drew attention to the left side of the net and allowed Ohio’s other bodies to find purchase with the opposite side of the court.
“(Kam’s) our leader on the court … she’s definitely one of the tone setters,” Carlston said. “We know we’re good on the right side, we’re physical on the right side, so especially Liv, seeing Liv have a breakout match tonight was awesome.”
The breakout performance is something Ohio will look to build on as it closes out the Green and White Invitational on Saturday with two matches against Oakland and Eastern Kentucky before heading into Mid-American Conference play.
However, growth will need to be a theme for the team, especially being so young, and in-season improvements like Gardner’s will need to be commonplace moving forward. Carlston is optimistic that that can be the case.
“As a coaching staff, if we’re patient and if we trust the process, I think we’re going to be there in the end,” Carlston said. “There’s just moments, right? And this was another one … It’s just putting blocks in the house that we’re building, and today was a nice block.”
