Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
No. 1 Ohio
Volleyball Drops a Heartbreaker to Nationally Ranked Ohio, 3-2
11/17/2006 11:51:51 PM | Volleyball
Eagles 2006 season concluded
Box score.
TOLEDO, Ohio — The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team took the three-time defending Mid-American Conference champion and the No. 1-seeded Ohio Bobcats to the edge of elimination before falling, 3-2 (30-26, 18-30, 26-30, 31-29, 10-15), in the quarterfinals round of the MAC Volleyball Tournament at the SeaGate Centre.
The setback ends the Eagles’ 2006 campaign and drops the Green and White to 13-17 overall. On the other side of the court, the nationally ranked Bobcats advance to Saturday’s semifinal contest versus No. 5 Western Michigan and run its record to 24-3 overall.
Recently named first team All-MAC honoree Lindsay Piccolini led the Eagle attack with 25 kills, a .258 attack percentage and eight blocks, as she closed out a sensational four-year career in an EMU uniform. Freshman Victoria Randolph followed 15 kill, five digs and five block assists. Juniors Katie Bates and Becky Reenders both turned in good showings, finishing with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Senior Ashley Cudney capped off a stellar EMU career, tallying a game-high 26 digs while junior setter Kate Sulewski chalked up 67 assists and seven digs.
Ellen Herman, the MAC’s 2006 Freshman of the Year, paced the Bobcats attack with a career-best 27 kills and a .317 attack percentage. Following Herman on offense was junior Melissa Griffin with 21 kills and a team-best .381 hitting percentage. Griffin also totaled four blocks.
In the opener, Ohio jumped out at an early 6-2 advantage but the pesky EMU squad rolled off eight of the next 10 points to take a 10-8 lead of its own. Eastern, who was swept by Ohio in the team’s only other meeting, would not be intimidated by Ohio as the Eagles’ lead grew to as many as three points on six separate occasions. A service ace by Piccolini sealed the Eagles’ 30-26 opening frame victory.
Game two was dominated by Ohio, as the Bobcats quickly took the 9-3 advantage. EMU would never threaten as OU took the set 30-18, as the squads headed to the break tied at one game a piece.
Following the intermission, the Eagles came out on first coasting to its own five point lead at 9-4. But Ohio would not go quietly using a 15-11 run to pull within a point at 20-19, forcing head coach Kim Berrington to burn a timeout. The momentum would stay in Ohio’s favor, as OU took its first lead of the game at 24-23 and they would never relinquish the advantage taking game three by a score of 30-26.
Game four featured eight ties and four lead changes in a back-and-fourth showdown. Eastern reached the midway point first, holding a slim five-point edge at 15-10, but it would be Ohio knotting the score at 21-21. Neither team was able to gain any breathing room, with the score remaining within a point. Finally a kill by Piccolini and an attack error by OU’s Savanah Parra gave EMU the 31-29 victory.
In the finale, Ohio got on the board but the Eagles were quick to answer tying the score at 4-4. But that would be all the closer Eastern would get as the Bobcats would post the 11 of the game’s final 17 points to capture the hard-fought decision.
