Nov. 21, 2009

Final Stats

TOLEDO, Ohio - Ellen Herman and Sue Jacobi combined for 38 kills and Michelle Jantsch accumulated 51 assists as the Bobcats hit .387 as a team en route to fending off a feisty Central Michigan side, 3-1 (25-20, 30-32, 25-18 and 25-23).

"Central played terrific in games one, two and four," said head coach Ryan Theis. "In game two they were outstanding. They gave us everything we could handle and it was a hard-fought battle."

Much like Friday's match against Ball State, the first set got off to a very even start, with both teams trading kills for an exciting beginning. Central took an early 8-6 lead, but Jacobi (Louisville, Ky.) slammed home a vicious kill to put the Bobcats within one and on serve. Meghan Simons (Lancaster, Oh.) followed suit just a few points later, hitting a solid shot in-between the outstretched defenders. Katie Post (Streamwood, Ill.) then threw down a kill and Jacobi followed with a huge individual block to give the `Cats a 15-12 lead. The Chippewas took a timeout to talk things over after this impressive run by the Green and White.

A clever kill by Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kans.) began a solid serving run by sophomore Nicole Staverman, as the Bobcats (25-5) put together two points in a row before Central spent its second timeout at 20-14. A few kills by Herman and Jacobi later gave the Bobcats a 25-20 first set win. Jacobi hit a perfect percentage from the floor in the first set, killing on all three of her attacks.

The Chippewas (17-12) got off to a fast start in the second set, matching the Bobcats step for step. At 8-8, Lauren Krupsky of Central threw down three kills over the next four points. Herman was able to even up the scores at 14 apiece with an important kill, putting the Bobcats back in good position to take control of the second set.

Central would have none of that, as they pressed hard and took a 22-21 advantage in the set. The teams battled hard back and forth, neither giving up an inch as the scores got to 23-23. The Chippewas' Krupsky contributed an important kill with the scores level, giving Central a shot at set point with a 24-23 lead. Jacobi then struck back, evening the scores at 24 before committing a service error. Herman was able to tie it up with a kill just a point later, and Stephanie Budde mishandled a set on the next point, putting the Bobcats ahead, 26-25. The teams then traded a number of points back and forth before Central pulled out a 32-30 victory on the strength of a Val DeWeerd kill.

At halftime, with the set scores level, Herman and Jacobi had each accumulated 12 kills, on .321 and .688 hitting, respectively. Jantsch followed up her great assist numbers last night (42), by racking up 31 at the half. Ohio was outblocking Central 4-2 while the Chippewas were outhitting the Bobcats, .466-.432.

Central got off to another quick start in the third set, jumping out to a 4-3 lead before Faith Robbins (Winston-Salem, N.C.) connected on her first kill of the day to level the scores. She and Simons then combined for a huge block just a few points later to give the `Cats a 7-6 lead. Ohio would extend this lead to five points before Central was forced to take a timeout at 11-6. The Chippewas then rattled off four points in a row before Jacobi ended their run by spiking one that was not intended to come back.

The `Cats put together a solid run at 15-all when Herman served the Green and White to two consecutive important points in the middle of the match. Ohio stretched the lead to four, forcing the No. 5 seed Chippewas to call a timeout at 20-16 in the hopes of breaking up the run. The `Cats didn't allow that to happen as they won the first point after the timeout on a massive block by Post and Robbins. Ohio then gave back the serve on a mirror-image double-block by Central's Kaitlyn and Val DeWeerd. Staverman was able to serve the `Cats through to a third-set victory as she took over at 23-18 and didn't give Central another chance.

Up two games to one, Ohio was hitting a very solid .396 from the floor, connecting on 51 total kills.

Both sides got off to a rather rocky start in the fourth set, as each team had early serving difficulties. The `Cats leapt out to a 7-5 lead, with Central continuing to fight hard for each point.

Staverman served effectively in the third set, tallying one ace and powering the `Cats to a three-point run to make it 14-10 in favor of Ohio. Central then came back with three points of its own, forcing the `Cats to take a timeout to talk things over. The next few points went back and forth before Herman was able to slam home her 17th kill of the evening to put Ohio up 17-15.

"They started out really scoring for us early and often," said Theis. "In terms of consistency, to get 38 kills between the two of them (Simons and Herman) is great."

The Chippewas kept coming back, eventually knotting up the score at 18-18. Jacobi broke up their rhythm momentarily with her 17th kill of the match. Central pushed forward for a 22-20 lead late in the set, leading to the `Cats calling timeout.

Jantsch took over serving with Ohio down one and was able to help win a crucial point to even the match at 23. Central's two timeouts (second at 24-23) proved ineffective as Ohio punched a ticket to the MAC Finals on a block by Herman and Simons, winning the fourth set 25-23.

With 15 digs tonight, Sarah Petrulis (Westlake, Oh.) is only five away from 1,000 in her career.

"I'm hoping she gets it tomorrow night," said Theis. "That would be outstanding. At times tonight I thought she was our most valuable player. She has meant a ton to our program and I wish we had her for another year."

The Bobcats will play for their seventh MAC Tournament title in the last seven years on Sunday against Western Michigan, who beat Miami 3-0 in the other semi-final. Match time is set for 3 p.m. at the SeaGate Centre.