The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Ohio
Ohio tops Volleyball, 3-0
October 05 | Women's Volleyball
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ATHENS, Ohio – Akron struggled to find a rhythm to hold onto against a fluid Ohio squad Friday evening, falling in straight sets to the Bobcats 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.
Alex Cocklin and Chelsea Harvey put up 10 kills each from the outside to pace the Akron offense, but as a team the Zips hit a combined .133 for the match. Seven of the Zips' nine wins this year have come when the team hits above a .250 percentage.
The first set played out to be closer than the score would let on. Ohio took a 9-5 advantage on two Akron errors, but the Zips countered in a big way, scoring on six of the next seven plays including four unanswered points on kills from Cocklin and Tina Dimitrijevs to forge ahead 11-10.
The Bobcats would capitalize on five first set kills from Kelly Lamberti to regain the advantage, but Harvey emerged with a huge kill and a service ace on back-to-back sequences to bring the Zips back to within one at 17-16 and force Ohio to take its first timeout of the night.
Akron stayed on OU's trail but could not get any closer. The Zips diffused set point once by forcing a Bobcat error, but was unable to turn a late rally.
The Zips strung together a solid run to start the second set, picking up seven straight points thanks in large part once again to Dimitrijevs and Harvey. OU tried to cool Akron's guns with another timeout part way through the streak but the Zips held on, soon building their largest lead of the night at 13-7 off two Cocklin kills.
Ohio's blocking game paired with several Akron errors allowed the Bobcats to creep back into the game and eventually tie the score at 21. OU's offensive leader Chelsea Bilger put out three of her match-high 17 kills in the last four plays to squeak by UA and take a 2-0 lead on the night.
Akron came out of the break cold, quickly falling into a deep 8-0 hole that proved too much to climb out of. Once they regained their footing, the Zips fought back and regained some momentum, trailing only by four at 12-8 after Morgan Kuhn dumped one over the net on the Bobcat defense.
OU maintained its stronghold on the match though, and would go ahead by as many as eight before securing the final set.
Jill Paluch picked up 10 digs, with Cocklin and Harvey not far behind tallying identical marks defensively as well with eight apiece. Mary Delich tied her career high mark with four block-assists to pair with five from Paiton Twitty, helping the Zips to reach 14 overall.
The result of the match leaves both teams with identical 9-8 overall records, but OU stays ahead of UA in the MAC East standings with a 4-1 league mark to the Zips' 2-3. Bowling Green is the only unbeaten team left in MAC play at 5-0 after its sweep of Miami Thursday night.
Akron will kick off this year's PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge with its first shot at rival Kent State this season in a 7 p.m. showdown Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes (5-12, 2-3 MAC) defeated Buffalo on Friday night by a 3-1 margin.
