Dec. 10, 2005

Box Score

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The Ohio volleyball team battled the fifth-ranked Arizona squad tough through five games but came up short in dropping a 3-2 (37-35, 23-30, 30-26, 18-30, 12-15) decision in the Sweet 16.

The loss caps off the finest season in the history of Ohio volleyball. The Bobcats finish the season 33-3 with their only three losses coming against Sweet 16 teams Louisville and Purdue and Arizona, the top seed in the Palo Alto Regional. The 33 Ohio wins is the most in the history of the program and the most of any Mid-American Conference school ever.

Senior Co-Captains Julia Winkfield (Newark, Ohio) and Holly Schetzsle (Pataskala, Ohio) played their hearts out in their final match as a Bobcat. Winkfield led Ohio with 14 kills while Schetzsle finished with 13.

Winkfield and Schetzsle will leave Ohio as two of the greatest Bobcats ever. Both players went over 1,000 kills for their career with Winkfield finishing fourth on Ohio's all-time kills list with 1,336. Schetzsle finishes her career fifth on Ohio's all-time kills per game list with 3.29 a frame. Winkfield and Schetzsle both finish in the top-5 in career hitting percentage with Winkfield finished second at .334 and Schetzsle fourth at .287.

Amanda Andersen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) tallied 13 kills while hitting a team-best .333. Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) finished with 12 kills and Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) 10.

Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) showed off her all-around game in filling up the stat sheet. Parra handed out 55 assists, matched a career-high with six blocks, dug seven balls and served up three aces.

Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded a team-best 21 digs with Stephanie Blackburn adding 14. Andersen tallied six blocks to share team honors with Parra. The opening frame saw the Bobcats play their longest and most competitive game of the year. Ohio and Arizona exchanged leads throughout the first frame with the Bobcats reaching 30 first following an Andersen kill to give Ohio a 30-29 lead. The Wildcats evened the score at 30 but the Bobcats went back on top following an Arizona serving error.

Arizona responded by taking the next two points to gain a 32-31 edge. A Griffin kill tied the frame at 32 but the Wildcats once again took the lead at 33-32. The Bobcats fought back to take the next two points to earn a game point of their own at 34-33. The two teams exchanged points until the frame was tied at 35. A Stephanie Blackburn kill gave Ohio a 36-35 lead and its fifth game point. The Bobcats capitalized on this opportunity with Parra and Andersen combining on a block to give Ohio the 37-35 frame one win.

Andersen and Stephanie Blackburn paced the Bobcat offense in the first game with both putting away six kills. Parra assisted on 18 of Ohio's 22 kills in the game while adding two kills of her own.

After dropping the second frame, the Bobcats swung the momentum back their way in the third with their finest offensive effort of the match. With the game tied at five, Ohio ran off three straight points to go up 8-5. The Bobcats would not trail for the rest of the frame.

Arizona closed to within one on six occasions but Ohio refused to give this game to the Wildcats. The Bobcats extended their lead to a game-high five at 29-24 and closed out the game following an Arizona service error.

Andersen led the Bobcats with four kills on only six attacks in the frame. Winkfield and Stephanie Blackburn each recorded three kills. Parra dished out 14 assists while Michaele Blackburn dug six balls.

After Arizona evened the game score at two all, the Bobcats went into only their second five-game match of the year. Ohio grabbed the early lead at 5-2 but the Wildcats fought back to even the score at five. The Bobcats countered with a 4-1 run to take a 9-6 lead.

The Wildcats caught Ohio in an untimely rotation, running off five straight points to take an 11-9 advantage. With Arizona in front 14-10, the Bobcats showed great resiliency in cutting the Wildcat lead to 14-12 but in the end Arizona was too much.