Nov. 19, 2006

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio - The top-seeded Ohio volleyball team defeated third-seeded Bowling Green, 3-0 (30-19, 30-25, 30-21), to win its fourth-straight Mid-American Conference Tournament championship. The victory secures Ohio's place in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Ohio is the third team in the history of the MAC Tournament to win four straight conference tournament crowns. Ball State was the last squad to do it when it won four straight from 1992-95.

With the win, the Bobcats perfected another season in the MAC with a 16-0 conference record and a 19-0 overall record against league teams in 2006.

Junior Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) and freshman Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) were named to the all-tournament team. Griffin was also named MAC Tournament MVP.

The Bobcats (27-3) placed four players in double-digit kills, led by Griffin with 17. Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) tallied 13, Herman chipped in 12 and Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 11, to go along with 12 digs.

Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) totaled 52 assists and Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) paced the Bobcats with 18 digs. Molly Mangan (Claire, Ill.) had 11digs. Parra and Janice Matacic (Liberty Township, Ohio) had nine digs apiece.

Bowling Green's effort was paced by Corey Domek with 10 kills. Chelsey Meek registered 17 digs and Chrissy Gothke added 14.

Ohio opened the frame with a kill from Griffin that sparked a 4-0 run by the Bobcats. Ohio increases its lead to eight at 17-11 and maintained a six point advantage until pulling ahead to eight at 25-17; forcing a Bowling Green timeout. After a kill by the Falcons at 25-18, Griffin and Stephanie Blackburn connected on three kills to pull Ohio ahead by 11 points. Ohio won game one, 30-19. Griffin totaled six kills and Blackburn totaled five in the game, as Ohio outhit BGSU .333 to .159.

Game two started with Ohio in the lead at 10-6. Bowling Green managed to tie the game at 10-10 after posting four straight points. Bowling Green took the lead at 14-12 but Ohio went on a 7-0 run to edge the Falcons by five points at 19-14. The Falcons would not go away easy and came within one point at 20-19, but the Bobcats used a 4-0 run to increase its lead to four at 24-20. A late 5-1 run; including two kills by Griffin, sealed the game two win for Ohio, 30-25.

The Bobcats took charge in game three jumping out to an early 10-3 lead; including two kills from Andersen and a fierce solo block by Stephanie Blackburn that forced a Bowling Green timeout. Ohio held on to the lead and was ahead by as nine points throughout, en route to winning the game, 30-21.

Ohio has won 20 matches in a row and has a 75-1 record over conference opponents in the last four years.

Ohio will finish its regular season schedule on Nov. 24-25 at Louisville and then await a seeding assignment for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tourney selection show is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 26, and will be broadcast on ESPN News.