Nov. 21, 2007

Louisville Game Notes (Nov. 24)

ATHENS, Ohio - The No. 19 Ohio volleyball team plays host to No. 23 Louisville at the Convocation Center on Saturday in its final home match of the season at 5:30 p.m.

Both Ohio and Louisville enter the match after suffering defeats in the championship match of their respective conference tournaments. Ohio (25-5), the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, was upset by the No. 3 seed Miami in the MAC Tournament final and Louisville (22-6), the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament, lost to second-seeded St. John's in the Big East championship match.

Saturday, Nov. 24, at 5:30 p.m.
No. 19 Ohio vs. No. 23 Louisville - Convocation Center

-Fans at Saturday's match will have the opportunity to win a $200 raffle. The cost for raffle tickets is $10 and fans can purchase as many tickets as they would like. The proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Athens County Child Services Christmas Tree Project, which provides gifts for underprivileged youth in Athens County.

Scouting Louisville
Louisville enters the week leading the nation in blocks per game, averaging 3.97. Louisville's front-line defense is led by middle blocker Lecia Brown, who averages 2.14 blocks per game to lead the country. Brown and middle blocker Svetlana Dukule were each named first-team All-Big East last week and outside hitter Jana Matiasovska was named second-team All-Big East. The Cardinals are 22-6 on the season and finished atop the Big East Conference with a 13-1 record.

All-Time Series
Ohio is 1-5 all-time against Louisville. Last year, Ohio lost 3-1 (26-30, 25-30, 30-17, 17-30) at Louisville in the final match of the regular season in the Cardinal Thanksgiving Challenge. The Cardinals out-hit Ohio .206 to .192, including limiting the Bobcats to a .048 percentage in game two and a .047 in the fourth game. Melissa Griffin led Ohio with 23 kills (.286) and Stephanie Blackburn posted a double-double with 13 kills (.250) and 16 digs. The loss to the Cardinals snapped a 21-match winning streak for the Bobcats. Louisville had four players record double-digit kills in the match, led by Svetlana Dukule's 14 (.324).

WEEKLY NOTES

Not a Common Occurrence
The Bobcats are coming off of just their third loss to a MAC opponent under Head Coach Geoff Carlston. Carlston's record against the MAC now stands at 92-3 over the last five seasons after Sunday's loss to Miami in the MAC Tournament championship.

Ohio vs. Ranked Teams
Ohio is 6-9 against top-25 teams under Head Coach Geoff Carlston over the past five seasons. This year Ohio is 2-1 against ranked opponents, having beaten No. 9 Minnesota (8/31) and No. 12 San Diego (9/1) on consecutive days and then losing to No. 2 Stanford in the championship match of the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. The victories against Minnesota and San Diego were the highest ranked opponents an Ohio team has ever defeated.

Matacic Digs It
Senior Janice Matacic had an outstanding defensive match at libero against Kent State in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. The senior posted a career-high and team season-high with 28 digs, topping her previous best of 18 set last year against Miami. The previous team season-best dig performance this season was set by Stephanie Blackburn, who had 22 digs earlier this year against Alabama.

MAC Awards
The MAC announced its 2007 award winners prior to the start of the conference tournament and the Bobcats had five players earn All-MAC recognition and senior Melissa Griffin was named MAC Player of the Year. Senior Stephanie Blackburn and sophomore Ellen Herman joined Griffin on the first team, while sophomore Jane Sytsma was selected to second-team All-MAC. Freshman Michelle Jantsch earned recognition being named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. Griffin and Herman have now been named to the first team the last two seasons, while Blackburn has been a first-teamer each of the last three seasons.

Bobcats Fall to RedHawks
The Bobcats were one match away from becoming the first team in the history of the MAC to capture five straight tournament titles, but their 3-0 loss to Miami in the championship ended that run. Ohio never got into a rhythm in the match, and for the first time this season the Bobcats were out-hit by a MAC opponent, as Miami hit .341 compared to Ohio's .213 percentage.

Streak Comes to an End
Ohio was rolling prior to its loss in the MAC championship. The Bobcats were on a 15-match winning streak, which included winning 45 of 49 games. During the streak the Bobcats had swept 11 of the 15 teams they had defeated.

Griffin Sets Career-High in Semis
Senior Melissa Griffin carried the Bobcats into the MAC Tournament championship match by connecting on a career-high 27 kills and hitting .531 in a 3-1 win against Kent State in the semifinals. The middle blocker had just seven kills through the first two games, but stepped up with 20 kills in games three and four to lift the Bobcats to the title match.

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Wes Liles is the volleyball contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at liles@ohio.edu.