Ohio upended by Marshall

by Tom Valentino
Staff Writer

 A certain amount of confidence for a young team is healthy.

Too much confidence, however, can be lethal.

The Ohio volleyball team entered last night’s match in Huntington, W. Va., leading the series 20-8 all-time against Marshall. However the Bobcats left losing to Marshall (11-4 overall, 2-0 MAC) in four straight games 34-32, 30-20, 29-31, 31-21.

Middle blocker Laura Hageman said Ohio (11-2 overall, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) might have opened the match with Marshall a little over-confident.

“We just had the mentality, like in years past, where we kicked their butt and it came back and bit us,” she said. “(Marshall) was a different team from last year and we didn’t react to that.”

Ohio coach Mike Lessinger said the Bobcats suffered key letdowns early in the match to let Marshall (11-4, 2-0) get out ahead early.

“We just had some really poor performances in key positions. We just didn’t show up in the first two games,” he said. “We just never played our volleyball.  It was a disappointing loss. We’ve got our work cut out for us this weekend.”

Ohio’s struggles through the first two games forced Lessinger to make adjustments to the team’s lineup. Setters Michelle Gil and Briana Adamovsky were switched from their normal spots in the rotation, while outside hitters Erin Fiene and Katie Smith were moved to the front row.

Lessinger said he also moved opposite-side hitter Jessica Jones to the right side, a move that generated enough offense to win the third game. Jones recorded 10 kills from her new position.

“At first, I was a little shaky, but my main focus was to help the team out and pick us up,” Jones said. “I dealt with it and did the best I could.”

Hageman posted the strongest statistics for the Bobcats, recording 15 kills, four blocks and a .364 hitting percentage. Fiene added 13 digs, while outside hitter Ashley Elliott recorded seven kills and four blocks as a starter.

Ohio will try to rebound with two home matches this weekend. The Bobcats play Miami at 7 p.m. Friday and Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Saturday in The Convo.