Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score |  Louisville Match Photo Gallery (Nov. 24) 

ATHENS, Ohio - The No. 19 Ohio volleyball team had four players register double-digit kills Saturday night, as the Bobcats outlasted No. 23 Louisville for a 3-2 (30-22, 30-23, 23-30, 22-30, 15-13) win in the final match of the regular season at the Convocation Center.

After splitting the first four games the match came down to the fifth and final game, where sophomore outside hitter Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) and senior outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped up to lift Ohio to victory.

Ohio (26-5) jumped out to a 7-3 lead in game five, as Herman connected on four kills to spark the Ohio attack. Louisville (22-7) fought back, tying the score at 8-8 and then taking a 12-10 lead. Ohio then scored the next two points to knot the score at 12-12 and set up the climactic ending. With the score tied Louisville's Jana Matiasovska landed a kill to end the short spurt and give the Cardinals back a one point lead. It would be Louisville's last lead of the game, as Blackburn slammed a kill to tie the score at 13-13, and following a Louisville attack error, the senior co-captain landed another kill, giving Ohio the 15-13 win and the match.

Herman totaled a match-high 19 kills (.086) on 58 swings and Blackburn totaled 11 kills (.200) and had a season-high 25 digs for her 16th double-double of the season.

Ohio senior middle blocker Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) totaled 17 kills (.182) and sophomore middle blocker Meghan Simons (Lancaster, Ohio) finished with 11 kills (.259) to join Blackburn and Herman in double-digits.

Ohio totaled 85 kills in the match, the fifth most in school history. Despite the high kill total, the Bobcats were out-hit .257 to .233.

The Bobcats won the opening two games, but the Cardinals showed their resilience in games three and four, winning both to force the final game.

Ohio won the first game 30-22 after out-hitting Louisville .432 to .276 and landing 21 kills to the Cardinals' 11. Herman paced Ohio with five kills and freshman outside hitter Melissa Szkutnik (Perrysburg, Ohio) had four kills on four swings for the Bobcats.

In the second game Ohio had 22 kills and once again out-hit Louisville, .333 to .256, en route to a 30-23 win and a 2-0 lead. Herman and Griffin each totaled five kills in the game to lead the Bobcat attack.

After combining for just five total team blocks in the first two games, the Cardinals exhibited in games three and four why they entered the week leading the nation in blocks.

Louisville won the third game 30-23 after holding Ohio to a .109 hitting percentage and posting three solo blocks and seven block assists.

The fourth game closely resembled the third game, as Ohio's attack was once again bothered by Louisville's front-line defense. Louisville had 10 block assists in the game and after taking a 4-3 lead the Cardinals never looked back on their way to a 30-22 win. Louisville's lead grew to as many as 19-10, before Ohio rallied to trim the deficit to 21-17. Ohio would get no closer though, setting up the thrilling fifth-game finish.

Freshman setter Michelle Jantsch (Mission Hills, Kansas) had an outstanding all-around performance for Ohio, with a match-high 46 assists, nine digs and five kills (.625).

Louisville's attack was paced by Matiasovska and Svetlana Dukule, who each finished with 15 kills.

The Bobcats will now wait to see if they are one of the at-large teams selected to compete in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The teams and seedings for the tournament will be announced during the selection show which is scheduled to air tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 25) on ESPNU at 8 p.m.

----------------------------
Wes Liles is the volleyball contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at liles@ohio.edu.