Sports
Ohio Drops Second Straight In Five
< < Back toDespite a valiant comeback attempt, the Ohio University volleyball team fell to Dayton in five sets (25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 13-25, 15-9) Friday night at the Frerick’s Center in Dayton.
Dayton (29-5) put forth a strong effort to start the match behind Alaina Turner. The junior outside hitter dominated early on, recording 9 kills in set one alone. The Bobcats (23-6) struggled to get their offense warmed up, but kept pace with the Flyers all the way until the 20-point mark of the opening set. From there, Dayton was able to string together 5 consecutive points to take set one.
Turner was Dayton’s prime offensive force all night as the Bobcats had a difficult time containing her explosive play. The Atlantic-10 Player of the Year recorded a season-high 30 kills on 64 attempts.
Ohio appeared to come out with some renewed energy in set two. The Bobcats took the lead early, only for the Flyers to battle back to regain and maintain the lead. An Ohio ace would bring the Bobcats back within one (14-13), but a 5-1 run would again give the Flyers an advantage. Freshman hitter Jaime Kosiorek gave the ‘Cats some energy at the net towards the end of set two, helping Ohio close the gap to 23-21. She ended the night with 11 kills and two service aces. A 2-point deficit was as close as Ohio would come, as a powerful kill from Dayton middle blocker Isolde Hannan ended the second set.
The Bobcats finally hit their stride in set three, cruising to an 8-point win and kick-starting some momentum. Set three marked the first set of the night that Ohio hit above .200 at the net. The ‘Cats also recorded four service aces in the set.
The midway point in the match was also the point when Ohio senior Kelly Lamberti seemed to hit her stride as well. The outside hitter was held to just two kills in the opening set of the match but ended the night with a team-high 19.
Continuing their momentum, Ohio displayed their most dominant performance in set four. Ohio jumped out to an early 10-4 lead and never looked back. The ‘Cats hit at an impressive .417 clip in the set while holding the Flyers to a negative hitting percentage.
Ohio battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the final set, but Dayton’s offense retaliated with a 6-0 run to help the Flyer’s gain a 9-3 lead. Back-to-back kills from Karin Bull and Mallory Salis cut the lead to four, but that was the smallest the lead would get as the Flyers beat the Bobcats on the race to 15 to win their 13th consecutive match.