Marshall University Athletics
Volleyball Downs Ohio, Moves To 2-0 In Conference Play
10/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Volleyball Downs Ohio, Moves To 2-0 In Conference Play
10/2/2002
HUNTINGTON, W. Va.?The Ohio Bobcats? four-match win streak over the Marshall Thundering Herd volleyball team ended Tuesday night, as MU took care of the Bobcats in dramatic fashion, 3-1 (34-32, 30-20, 29-31, 31-29). Marshall improves to 11-4, 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play, while Ohio drops to 11-4, 1-2 in the MAC.
?I?m so proud of how hard they worked,? said MU coach Mitch Jacobs. ?They?ve really become a unit. This is a great night for the Herd.?
Game one was a definite ?hot seat? game for both teams, as the lead exchanged hands five times after the game was locked at 20. The game ended on the 66th point, when Ohio?s Lindsay Judice?s attack went wide on a Katie Stein (Sussex, Wis.) serve. Nichol Michal (Louisville, Ky.) found seams in the Bobcats? defense for the entire game, putting down five kills, with only one error, in 11 total attacks (.364). Heidi Kuethe (Normal, Ill.), last week?s MAC East Division co-player of the week, had four kills.
The game one momentum carried into game two, as the Herd put together one of their better games of the year. Marshall took control early, and at the 23-20 mark, MU strung together seven consecutive points to close out Ohio, 30-20. Junior Andrea Kastein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) served the Herd to the last six.
Ohio responded in game three, taking the set 31-29. However, it was not without a fight from Marshall, who was attempting to close out the Bobcats. Both teams battled early and often, as the score was knotted five times in the games? first 40 points. MU?s lead expanded to four at 14-10, but Ohio continued to fight, eventually taking the lead 21-20 on a kill by Ashley Elliot. The game was tied again at the 23, 24, 28, and 29 marks, and the pressure mounted against Ohio. OU responded, getting a kill from Michelle Gil and an attack error from Marshall?s Tracey King (Miami, Fla.) to close out the game, 31-29, and force a game four.
In a tremendous display of poise by Marshall, the Herd rallied back from a 17-13 deficit to take the game and the match. With Ohio leading 20-16, Marshall mounted a comeback to tie the game at 22. The ?hot seat? returned for the Herd, and with the score tied at 29, Tracey King tallied her 18th kill of the night, while Lindsay Judice?s last ditch effort to tie the score at 30 fell into the net.
?This was a bunch of individuals last spring and they wanted to become a team so bad,? said Jacobs. ?What we as coaches do is prepare the game plan, but they?re the ones who pull it together.. They deserve the credit.?
Along with King, Nicole Michal set a career high with 18 kills. Kuethe sported a double-double (11 kills, 16 digs), as did Katie Stein (58 assists, 18 digs.).
The Bobcats were led by Laura Hageman, who hit for .364 with 15 kills (15-3-33). She also had 13 digs. Lindsay Judice had 13 kills and ten digs, while Jessica Jones had ten kills. Ohio had four players with ten digs or more (Judice, Hageman, Erin Fiene, Michelle Gil).
Marshall returns to action Friday night with preseason MAC tournament favorite Eastern Michigan. That match begins at 7 p.m.
