Nov. 4, 2006

Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio - The 22nd-ranked Ohio volleyball team is on the brink of winning the Mid-American Conference title after defeating Central Michigan, 3-1, on Saturday night.

Ohio leads the MAC East Division and is the only undefeated team in the conference. The Bobcats currently have a 15-match winning streak in tact.

Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.), Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) and Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) led the offense with 18 kills, 15 kills and 13 kills, respectively. Savanah Parra set the attack with 53 assists along with 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.

Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) held down the defense with 21 digs. Stephanie Blackburn registered 14 digs and Molly Mangan (Claire, Ill.) added 10.

Griffin set the pace early in game one for Ohio. Her five kills gave Ohio an 8-5 start but Central Michigan quickly change the momentum and managed to tie the match at 17-17. The Chippewas used a 5-0 run to take a 22-17 lead en route to a 30-23 win of game one.

"Central Michigan played better than us in game one," said Head Coach Geoff Carlston. "They outblocked us, outdug us and outhit us. They were playing great defense and made phenomenal plays. "

Central Michigan hit .302 to Ohio's .225 in game one and had 17 kills to Ohio's 14. The Chippewas also outdug the Bobcats 17 to 15.

Central Michigan carried the momentum over into game two and started the game on a 4-1 run. The Chippewas maintained the lead but the Bobcats pulled within three at 15-12. Amanda Andersen connected for three straight kills giving the Bobcats their first lead at 17-16; forcing a CMU timeout.

Central Michigan came back and tied the game 17-17 but another kill by Andersen put Ohio back ahead 18-17. Central Michigan tied the game again at 18-18 and at 19-19 then Ohio went on a 2-0 run for a 22-19 lead, forcing another Central Michigan timeout. Ohio came back from timeout and extended its lead to 23-20. Central Michigan then came within one at 23-22 and tied the game 23-23 off an Ohio error. Ohio regained its lead 24-23 and used a 4-0 run off a serving run by Janice Matacic (Liberty Township, Ohio) for a 23-28 lead. Andersen closed out game two with two back-to-back kills and Ohio won the game, 30-25.

"Amanda really added a spark in game two," said Carlston. "She did a lot of things to change the momentum and gave us the advantage to finish out game two. Then we were able to take that momentum going into game three. Our blocking also picked up and I think those two things really were the difference in the match tonight."

Game three started with a 2-2 tie. Ohio then took a 7-5 lead after scoring on four Central Michigan errors. Two more Chippewas errors and an ace serve by Stephanie Blackburn put the Bobcats up 10-8. The Bobcats then went on a 4-0 run for a 14-8 lead, forcing a CMU to take a timeout. Central Michigan came back from timeout and connected for three straight points; including an ace serve by Neuman and a kill by Baker, cutting Ohio's lead to two, 14-12.

The teams traded points until an ace by Mangan and a kill by Andersen game Ohio its largest lead of the game, 20-15. Central Michigan fought back as they used a 3-1 run to cut the Bobcats lead to one, 21-20. Ohio then used a 3-0 run of its own; including two kills by Herman, to pull ahead, 24-20. Central Michigan came within three at 26-23 but Ohio broke away on a 4-3 run and closed out game three, 30-26.

Griffin started game four with a kill and the teams tied the game at 3-3 and 4-4. Herman connected for three consecutive kills and the Bobcats took a 7-4 lead. After five Chippewas errors, the Bobcats had a 14-8 lead and held the Chippewas to six points until extending the lead to 11 at 29-18. Ohio won game four, 30-19.

"We really had to work hard to win tonight," said Carlston. "I'm pretty happy to be on the road and win two matches. This was a really long road trip. To get out of this weekend with two wins is just great."

The Bobcats return home next weekend to host Miami, Nov. 10, 6 p.m. and Bowling Green, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.