Sept. 9, 2010

ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio Volleyball welcomes three BCS-conference opponents to the Convo this weekend for the Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational. The Bobcats will play Pittsburgh tomorrow at noon and follow that with a match against No. 14 Tennessee at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Green & White will tangle with Northwestern at 2 p,m.

Ohio Volleyball will hold their annual canned food drive to support the Athens County Food Pantry on Friday and you can find more information about that event here. On Saturday, a ticket for that evening's Toledo vs. Ohio football game at Peden Stadium gets you into the volleyball match for free. Also, if you wear Ohio gear, admittance to Saturday's match is only $1.

Ohio will provide live stats for all matches throughout the weekend and livestream all Bobcat contests.  Links to those matches can be found by clicking here.

Opponents

No. 14 Tennessee - 1-0 all time, first SEC opponent under Theis, Ohio 5-7 all-time vs. the SEC
The Lady Volunteers are off to one of the best starts in program history, with a school-record six consecutive sweeps to kick off the 2010 campaign. Tennessee is one of just four teams in the AVCA Top-25 that has yet to drop even a single set this year. Last weekend, the Big Orange traveled to the Lone Star State where it took out Big 12-foe Oklahoma, then- No. 13 Florida State and host Houston in impressive fashion. Senior Nikki Fowler was named the tournament's MVP for the second straight weekend and was joined by sophomore Leslie Cikra and freshman Kelsey Robinson on the all-tournament team.

Northwestern - 0-1 all-time, Theis 1-5 vs. Big Ten opponents, Ohio 3-24 all-time vs. the Big Ten
Northwestern posted a 2-1 mark in their home tournament last weekend. Against Mississippi, a match in which three different ’Cats posted double-digit kill totals, Sabel Moffett led the way with 14 kills and 11 blocks (a career-best). She was complemented by 12 kills from Naomi Johnson, 10 from Madalyn Shalter and Elyse Glab's career-best eight blocks and 45 assists.  A career-best 11 kills from Stephanie Holthus helped the Wildcats top Morehead State in straight sets.  Moffett had an unbelievable night in the team's lone loss to Utah. She recorded 19 kills and added eight blocks, with Christina Kaelin knocking down 16 kills and Johnson adding 15.

Pittsburgh - 3-3 all-time, Theis 3-0 vs. Big East opponents, Ohio 34-24 all-time vs. the Big East
Theis is 1-0 against Pitt with the Bobcats taking a match 3-1 back in 2008 against the Panthers. Pitt earned its first win of the season with a 3-0 decision over Tulane in the final match of the Pittsburgh Invitational last weekend as senior middle Imani Harper earned Pitt Invitational All-Tournament Team honors. The Panthers recorded season highs in kills (44) and blocks (12) and aces (5) against Tulane. Senior outside hitter Amy Town was named to the 2010 Preseason ALL-Big East Team after earning second-team accolades last season.

Ohio Notes

Over the past seven years, the Bobcats have been one of the most successful and competitive teams in the nation. Some of the accolades that the team has earned include:
- Six regular-season and MAC Tournament titles in the last seven years
- Seven-consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship, the second-longest streak in MAC history
- 24-8 (.750) postseason record since 2003
- NCAA regional semifinalist in 2005, qualified for second round three times
- One of 10 teams nationally to rank among the top 26 in RPI during the last four seasons
- One of 12 teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and receive an AVCA Team Academic Award

Post and Jantsch Share Weekly MAC Honors (Sept. 7)
Ohio volleyball standouts Katie Post and Michelle Jantsch were named the MAC East Division Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week by the conference office on September 7. This is the second week in a row that the Bobcats have been recognized by the league.

Post was recognized after she earned Tournament MVP status at the JQH Invitational last weekend. The junior helped lead the Bobcats to a 3-1 record including victories over two teams that received votes in the national polls, Texas A&M and Missouri State. Post had 46 kills and hit .417 while averaging 15 points per match over all four contests. She also totaled career-highs in kills and points during the championship match.

Jantsch played in her 100th career match last weekend and she currently sits third all-time with 3,702 assists. This past weekend, she was named to the all-tournament team after ranking second on the team in digs with 40 and racking up 11 total blocks. She also added 11 kills, led the team in assists with 140 and picked up three service aces over the three-day event.

Jacobi Named MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week (Aug. 30)
Jacobi was named the MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week by the conference office on August 30 .This is the second time Jacobi has received this award during her career. The senior, playing in her hometown, had a career-high 29 kills in the Bobcats' win over North Dakota State and posted consecutive double-doubles by adding 12 digs in the match against the Bison and 23 kills with 10 digs in the match against Louisville. She currently ranks second on the team in digs with 27 and led the `Cats by scoring 68.5 points in the three matches, an average of 5.27 points per set.

Record Keeping
Jacobi currently ranks ninth in Ohio history during the rally-scoring era in kills and 10th in attacks, fifth in block solos and 10th in total blocks. Jantsch is second in assists, fourth in service aces and 10th in block assists.

Familiar Faces
Ohio Head Coach Ryan Theis served as an assistant coach at Northwestern in 2004 and 2005. Theis, who is in his third season at the helm of the Bobcats, helped the Wildcats to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2005, which included an upset of Texas A&M for NU's first postseason victory in program history.

Last Week

After dropping the first match last weekend at the JQH Invitational to North Carolina, the Bobcats rattled off three-consecutive wins to take the tournament. Katie Post was named the Tournament MVP and Michelle Jantsch was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Meryl Bender had a career-high nine assists and seven digs for the Bobcats in the 3-0 win over SEMO. Post had a then career-high 13 kills to go along with a match-high three total blocks. Jacobi led the Bobcats with 14 kills and also added four digs. Mandy Nichols added eight kills and six digs while Jantsch had a match-high 34 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Post hit .524 for the match while Nichols hit .381 and Post hit .321. Overall, Ohio had 45 kills to SEMO's 29 and out-hit the Redhawks, .320 to .076.

Against Texas A&M, Ohio kept the Aggies under .150 attacking for three of the four matches, en route to a 3-1 win. This turned out to be key as Texas A&M racked up eight more kills than Ohio. The Green & White also managed to out-block their opponents on the evening, 11-7. Jacobi finished the match with a team-high 17 kills, two service aces and seven digs while Post had 10 kills and three total blocks for 11.5 points. Lexie Hartnett was a third Bobcat to score 10 points or more with eight kills and four total blocks. Jantsch had another solid game distributing the ball finishing with a team-high 27 assists while also accumulating 12 digs and three kills. Bender led the team in digs with 19 and also chipped in with four assists. Faith Robins led the team in blocking with a total of six while also notching six kills.

In the finale, the Bobcats handed Missouri State, receiving votes in the latest CSTV/AVCA Women's Top 25 Poll and off to their best start in 33 years, their first loss of the season behind Post's career-high 14 kills and Robins' career-high 11 kills. Post also had nine total blocks and a career-high 21 points en route to her MVP honors. The junior finished the weekend with 46 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Robins, along with Jacobi (11 kills, eight digs, three aces) and Hartnett (nine kills, six total blocks) also broke the double-digit points plateau for the match. Meanwhile, Janstch had a match-high 38 assists along with five kills, eight digs and five total blocks. Bender added a team-high 12 digs and also picked up five digs. Overall, Ohio out-blocked Missouri State, 17-6 and out-hit the Bears during the final two sets, .333 to .000 and .314 to .135. For the weekend, Ohio out-blocked their opposition 42.5 to 22.0.