Fans 'Cram the Convo' to help cheer on the 'Cats
Ohio women's volleyball takes the win in set five
By Tricia Flickinger, Staff Writer
October 14, 2008 | noon
“They did a great job pulling through," Ohio head coach Ryan Theis said. "I felt like we came through and thought like we were getting tired in some of the long volley’s early, but looking across the net there was some long volleys for both teams. So we battled through it, and it was great to get the win at home. The fans help a lot.”
Junior outside hitter Ellen Herman was out for another game due to an injury. She was also out for the previous match-up against Kent State, where the Bobcats came out on top sweeping the Flashers in three (25-17, 25-23, 25-21). With Herman out, Maiden has really shown her senior leadership by stepping up and filling in that empty spot. This was Maiden’s second double-digit kill performance, and she added six digs and 17 points to help the team to the victory -- all were career highs.
“We all have to pick it up because Ellen contributes a lot. She brings a lot of energy to the court, but in practice we all practice for that, we’re ready for it,” Maiden said. “I’m glad that I could provide for my team.”
Junior middle blockers Jane Systma and Meghan Simons both teamed up to record 12 kills apiece. The former also added seven block assists with 17.5 points, and the latter added 15 points. Senior middle blocker Amanda Anderson also contributed 12 kills on the night with 38 total attempts.
“We come to every game thinking that we are going to win, but we know that the back has gotten so good in the last year to two years, so we go into every game just knowing that the other team will bring it and most teams bring their best games against us,” Systma said. “So I think we need to work on our first game, but we knew what we were getting into.”
Ohio (11-6, 4-2 MAC) started out a little slow in the first set, but the team seemed to pick up its momentum in the second set and carried it all the way through to the fifth set coming out with the win. The team tallied a total of 60 kills with 165 total attempts, leading to a .236 hitting percentage for the night. The Bobcats’ back-row recorded a season high record of 74 digs, which is the most since the 2007 regular-season finale when the 'Cats recorded 80.
The Bobcats entered the evening with an 11-match winning streak against EMU. Fans were urged to come out and “Cram the Convo” to help cheer on the ‘Cats. With almost 75 members of the “OZone” on their way home from the Bobcats’ football game versus Kent State, the student section seemed a little empty. Still, the Convo recorded 1,332 fans that attended, which was quite fewer from last year’s “Cram the Convo” game that totaled about 3,000 fans.
The Bobcats look to continue their winning streak as they hit the road this coming weekend when they play Toledo at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17 and Ball State at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.
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