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No. 15 Ohio Captures Fifth-Straight Regular Season Title
Nov. 8, 2007
ATHENS, Ohio - The No. 15 Ohio volleyball team captured its fifth-straight Mid-American Conference regular season championship Thursday evening with a 3-0 (30-21, 30-23, 30-15) victory against Kent State at the Convocation Center. The Bobcats become just the second school in the history of the conference to win five consecutive regular season titles, joining Western Michigan, which won the regular season six times from 1983-88. Ohio (22-4, 14-1) out-hit Kent State (19-9, 10-5) .357 to .119 and landed 58 kills to Kent State's 34. The significant difference in hitting was the result of a strong Bobcat defense, which collected 65 digs to the Golden Flashes' 39. Senior middle blocker Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) led the Bobcat attack with 16 kills on 27 swings, while committing only two errors for a .519 hitting percentage. Ohio sophomore outside hitter Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) totaled 13 kills (.226) and freshman outside hitter Melissa Szkutnik (Perrysburg, Ohio) had a solid match with 10 kills on a .421 clip. In the opening game the Bobcats trailed 10-9, before running off seven of the next eight points to take a five point advantage. Kent State battled back, cutting the deficit to 19-17, but Ohio never relinquished the lead and won pulling away, 30-21. Ohio's offensive attack was firing on all cylinders in the second game, as the Bobcats got out to a quick 9-2 lead, which included a series of four straight kills from Herman. Kent State trimmed the lead to five points on two occasions, but Ohio's attack proved too much. The Bobcats landed 26 kills and hit .415 en route to the 30-23 win. Griffin totaled seven kills in the game, while Herman had six. Carrying all the momentum into the third game, Ohio ran off 22 of the first 31 points and cruised to a 30-15 win. The Bobcats' defense was on display in the final game as Kent State connected on just five kills and hit -.083 for the game. Ohio collected 22 digs in the game, paced by eight from senior outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) and seven from freshman setter Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kansas). Blackburn totaled a match-high 19 digs and added six kills (.211), while Jantsch registered the third double-double of her career with 13 digs and a match-high 30 assists. Ohio senior libero Janice Matacic (Liberty Township, Ohio) finished with 13 digs and five assists. Sophomore middle blocker Jane Sytsma (Madison, Wis.) was efficient on the attack for Ohio, landing eight kills on 13 swings and committing just one error for a .538 hitting percentage. Kent State was led by Anja Knabe-Paulsen with 12 kills on a .211 clip. The Bobcats play their final conference regular season match on Saturday against Central Michigan at the Convocation Center at 7 p.m. The match is "Senior Night", in which Ohio seniors Blackburn, Griffin and Matacic will all be honored. ---------------------------- |
