Sports : Volleyball

OHIO Volleyball

Bobcats survive spook

By Katherine Bercik, Copy Editor
   
October 31, 2007 | 11:52 p.m.

All sports teams are entitled to at least one poor performance, but seeing it come from the No. 19 Bobcats was quite a shock.

In its match against Akron, Ohio hit its lowest percentage (.248) against a Mid-American Conference opponent this season but managed to win 3-0 (30-21, 30-14, 31-29).

Ohio looked unorganized and unfocused, the offense and defense were not up to par and the team had three consecutive service errors in the third game. These are points the team should not be giving away.

“It was unfocused, it was undisciplined," Coach Geoff Carlston said about the team's performance against the Akron Zips. "I was not impressed.” 

Carlston said he thought that, compared to last weekend's performances against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, the team was not focused.

Carlston said it was disappointing in terms of how the team went about the match. “We passed poorly, set poorly and hit right into [the blockers] … Our hitters have to hit above the blockers,” he said.

The team has lost because of sloppy play and the team needs to get better, no matter who they are playing, Carlston said.

“We can’t just slap through a game; we’re better than that. We’ve come too far,” he said.

Fortunately, the team redeemed itself the next day against Buffalo, winning the match 3-0 (30-21, 30-16, 30-12).

Freshman outside hitter Melissa Szkutnik led the team with a match-high and career-high 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .667.

“Tonight we were trying to redeem ourselves from the night before because last night we really didn’t play that well,” Szkutnik said, adding that the team wanted to send a message that Ohio volleyball does not play the way it did the night before.

“[Szkutnik] is ridiculously athletic,” Carlston said of Szkutnik’s performance.

Carlston also mentioned that, since she is a freshman, Szkutnik has a lot of room to grow and leisure to make mistakes: “You can’t rush experience. I think she did an awesome job tonight.”

The Bobcats will be on the road this week as they face Miami and Bowling Green again. Miami was the first team to defeat Ohio in MAC play in four years.

“We’ve got to start working really hard this week. We have a huge on-the-road weekend this week,” Carlston said.

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