Nov. 10, 2006

ATHENS, Ohio--Miami University's volleyball team battled but was unable to come up with a victory as the RedHawks dropped a four-game match to No. 19 Ohio (20-30, 30-26, 22-30, 23-30). The loss dropped Miami to 12-16 (8-7 Mid-American Conference) while Ohio moved to 23-3 (15-0 MAC).

Miami jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off of an Ohio attack error and a kill by junior middle hitter Carli Reihman. Two Miami miscues helped Ohio take a four-point lead at 10-6. Kills by junior setter Ashley Davis and freshman middle hitter Hallie Hanks spurred a Miami surge as the RedHawks knotted game one at 12-12. Miami tied the game once more at 13-13, but Ohio slowly pulled away and reached an eight-point lead at 25-17. A Stephanie Blackburn service ace gave the Bobcats a 30-20 game-one win.

Three kills and a service ace by sophomore outside hitter Emily Schroeder lifted Miami to a 7-5 lead in game two. With Miami's two-point lead still intact at 9-7, a block by junior outside hitter Jeanna Staun and block assist by Reihman and Hanks gave Miami a four-point lead at 11-7. Miami kept the pressure on as a Schroeder block and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Alex Ratcliff extended the Miami lead to six at 18-12. Miami pushed its lead to nine on two different occasions with the last coming at 25-16. Despite Ohio cutting the Miami lead to four at 26-22, a kill by freshman middle hitter Megan Griffin iced the game for the RedHawks as Miami took game two 30-26.

Five Schroeder kills paced the RedHawks early in game three as Miami raced out to a 10-7 lead. An Amanda Andersen kill tied the game at 13-13 and the teams remained tied until two service aces by Stephanie Blackburn and a kill by Andersen gave Ohio a four-point advantage at 19-15. Miami remained within four points as late as 20-24, but Ohio pulled away and took game three 30-22.

Game four began with six ties in the first twelve points before Ohio rallied off four points behind three kills from Jill DeArmond to take a 10-6 lead. Miami cut the Bobcat lead to three at 9-12, but Ohio quickly moved its lead back to five points at 15-10. A kill and service ace by Schroeder, and a block by Reihman and Griffin cut the Miami deficit to two at 14-16. Miami remained within two points as late as 16-18, but four kills by Ellen Herman extended the Ohio lead to six at 23-17. The RedHawks were unable to overcome the deficit as Ohio won game three, and the match, 30-23.

Miami was led by Schroeder's match-best 21 kills which was her 10th 20-plus kill performance of the season. Sophomore libero Melissa Zenz led the RedHawks defensively with 13 kills.

Herman led Ohio with 16 kills while Janice Matacic posted a match-high 18 digs.

Miami will conclude its Mid-American conference schedule at Kent State on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

Notables: Schroeder's 21 kills cracked the Miami single-season chart for kills in a season. She currently has 446 kills on the season which ranks 6th in program history.