Volleyball gets 20th win, cements place in postseason

by Laurie Duffy
Staff Writer

One by one, the Ohio volleyball players came out of the locker room with wide smiles on their faces after beating Marshall in three games, 30-28, 30-25 and 30-17.

That win avenges an earlier season loss to the Thundering Herd on Oct. 2 and gives the Bobcats their 20th win of the season.

Ohio coach Mike Lessinger said outside hitters Julia Winkfield and Holly Schetzsle did an outstanding job picking up the slack left by outside hitter Lindsay Judice, who did not play due to an ankle injury.

“They’re big and they’re in the net,” he said. “Julia is a huge block and when you’re blocking like we did in game three, you score points very quickly. The nice thing about them is that as freshmen, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what they’re capable of.”

Schetzsle put down 12 kills in the match to go along with outside hitter Laura Hageman’s .407 hitting percentage and team-high 13 kills. Winkfield added five blocks to go along with her .231 hitting percentage.

“I was trying to read the hitters and read the setter a lot better than I did last time,” Winkfield said. “I think I’ve gotten a lot better at blocking since last time we played them.”

Ohio stopped Marshall’s (17-8 overall, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) attack with solid defense in the back row and a strong bench presence. The Thundering Herd only managed a .048 hitting percentage for the match, compared to Ohio’s .257 mark.

“Erin Fiene did a great job passing in the back row and Laura was being smart in the block,” Schetzsle said. “I think the bench is doing a better job stepping in, and we got a lot more help off that.”

Ohio (20-7, 10-3 MAC) pushed out to a 14-6 lead in the final game and never looked back. Hageman finished off the match with a solo block that pushed her into a tie with Kerry Quinn for second place in all-time blocks at Ohio. She now has 372 for her career.

“I think when she (Laura) has a split like Briana created for her tonight, she’s fantastic,” Lessinger said. “Thankfully, we passed well so we could get those splits for her.”

The win against Marshall cements a place in the MAC Tournament for the Bobcats. But Lessinger said it more importantly proves the team can finish off opponents when it counts.

“I really feel that for the first time, they really finished off strong,” Lessinger said. I’m just really pleased with the way we performed, and to finish the way we did is something that gains momentum as we step in and play Buffalo.”

Ohio takes the floor in its last home match of the season against Buffalo on Saturday at 7 p.m. in The Convo.