The Ohio volleyball team will look to extend its 12-match winning streak and remain undefeated in Mid-American Conference play this weekend in a pair of matches against rivals Miami and Western Michigan.
The Bobcats will travel to Oxford to take on the RedHawks before returning to Athens tomorrow night to face the Broncos. Ohio defeated Miami in four games Sept. 25, while they have yet to face Western Michigan this season.
"Miami's starting to hit their stride, and Western Michigan is the most athletic team in the conference," coach Geoff Carlston said.
Carlston's team goes into this weekend's slate of matches after taking care of Marshall on the road in three games on Wednesday. Freshmen Stephanie Blackburn and Melissa Griffin paced the effort, recording 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
Senior Ashley Elliott said that she was pleased with how the freshmen and seniors have mixed together this season.
"Our chemistry has been great so far," she said. "The freshmen are really playing roles, and everyone's doing their job."
After today's match at Miami, only one more regular-season road match awaits the Bobcats. Despite a 22-match home winning streak, second longest in Division I-A volleyball, Carlston said his team doesn't mind playing away from The Convo.
"We're comfortable on the road," he said. "We use that to make us a stronger team."
Carlston said the current stretch is, logistically, the toughest of the season, with three conference matches in four days against teams with winning records, and the team is trying to stay as fresh as possible. Outside hitter Kate Wooldridge said that the team just focuses on getting better.
"We're making sure we get done what needs to get done," she said. "We focus on what's happening now."
Carlston said that the team can still improve, even though the Bobcats are off to a school-record 19-2 start.
"We need to get better," he said. "We have some pretty big goals."
Ohio will play Miami at 7 p.m. today in Oxford before returning to The Convo for a match against Western Michigan at 7 p.m. tomorrow.