Nov. 6, 2009

Final Stats

ATHENS, Ohio-The Ohio volleyball squad hit on all cylinders early against visiting Buffalo and never looked back as it secured a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-20) victory Friday evening in the Convocation Center. The Bobcats (20-5, 12-1 MAC) picked up their school-record eighth-straight 20-win season in the process. Buffalo dropped to 15-12 overall and 5-8 in the league.

Ohio, who flirted with the school record for hitting percentage (.507 vs. Rutgers on Aug. 26, 2007) during the first two sets, got double-digits kills from senior Ellen Herman (18) and junior Sue Jacobi (11), while junior Michelle Jantsch had 37 assists and 11 digs.

“Michelle (Jantsch) was really doing a good job,” said head coach Ryan Theis. “Our passers were getting the ball to her in really good situations and she gave hitters really good looks. Everything was kind of flowing at this point, which is what you’d hope for this time of year at home.”

Herman, Jacobi, Jantsch, sophomore Katie Post, freshman Faith Robins and sophomore Mandy Nichols all hit .400 or better.

Buffalo was held to a .179 clip during the contest. The Bulls were led by Dani Silvers’ 10 kills and .368 percentage. Tori Beckman had a match-high 14 digs to go along with Lindsey Schlegel’s 26 assists.

Ohio out-blocked Buffalo 9-4 with senior Meghan Simons (2s, 2a) and Robins (0s, 4a) posting four total blocks apiece. Post also notched three aces.

Ohio’s big burst in the first set came when the Bobcats held a narrow one-point lead at 12-11. The Bobcats then ran off six straight points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Herman and Jacobi, to go up 18-11. Herman put an end to the set with a kill off a Jantsch set.

The 12-11 mark also proved to be the point where Ohio took control of the second set. The Bobcats answered Kristin Bignell’s kill with eight consecutive points of their own on a pair of aces by Post and four Herman kills. Herman again did the honors of ending the second set, this time on a set from senior Sarah Petrulis.

The Bobcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set and let the Bulls get no closer than two points the rest of the way.

Ohio will close out its home regular season slate Saturday evening against Akron at 7 p.m. The match will serve as Senior Night as the post-match ceremony will honor Herman, Simons, Jane Sytsma and Petrulis.

“I’ve said from January of last year what a special group of seniors and leaders that these student-athletes are,” said Theis. “The senior class has given so much to this program and we hope to get a big crowd Saturday night to appreciate what they’ve done.”