What started as a dark and gloomy day outside, turned into a cloudy day inside the MACC. Volleyball regressed hard from a dominant weekend, as the team was swept by Ohio University 3-0 Tuesday.
The match itself was one where if you’re the loser, you have to wipe the film. Nothing went well, and at times the team looked discombobulated.
Ohio did all the small things right, and while KSU just missed digs even with diving effort, OU played the Flashes’ offense to a perfect T, always being there for the dig that gave them the chance to set up their offense.
Recap
The first set was the most competitive set of the match. The start was back-and-forth with errors preventing either team from gaining control to start. The Flashes started to pull away from the set, going on an 8-1 run to build a 12-6 lead.
KSU maintained that lead but never fully pulled away, with Ohio forcing the Flashes to take a timeout after cutting the lead down to two. Ohio eventually tied the set at 18-18.
Sophomore middle back Nadia Miller then gave KSU a two-point lead with back-to-back kills as well as a service ace.
Still, Ohio wouldn’t back down, using a 6-1 run to steal the set from the Flashes 25-23.
After falling in the first set, KSU looked to avoid spiraling, something that the team had improved on this season both in overall matches and individual sets.
The Flashes looked to be doing that, playing ahead for most of the first 10 points in the set. However, the Bobcats sucked the life out of the team and the arena. A 5-1 run forced the Flashes to burn a timeout, and it wasn’t successful as momentum remained with OU.
With a score of 16-11, the Bobcats maintained confidence, putting the Flashes in the tough spot of trying to get back into the set.
KSU cut the lead to 17-15, but that was as close as it would get, as the Bobcats would stun the crowd and take set two 25-18.
By this point it was apparent who was in control, Ohio had shut down any home crowd advantage and looked to be more prepared than the Flashes.
The third and final set was the nail in the coffin. The Flashes were struggling to stay afloat, and the Bobcats took a quick 10-5 lead, forcing coach Haley Eckerman to burn a timeout.
Eckerman tried to spark something in the Flashes with a fiery speech but the match was a formality at this stage. Ohio ran away with the set winning 25-14 and sweeping the match 3-0.
The Flashes had a hitting percentage of .045 for the match and no players reached double digit kills. Sophomore middle back Adalynn Ginley led with eight.
With the loss the Flashes fell to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in conference play. OU improved to 3-14 overall and won its first conference game to move to 1-4 in MAC play.
Up Next
The Flashes look to rebound against the Eastern Michigan Eagles Thursday and Friday. The Eagles sit in last place at 0-5 in conference play in the MAC. A sweep of both games would put the Flashes at .500 overall and give the team a winning conference record.
Thursday’s contest will start at 6 p.m. and Friday’s contest at 4 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].