UC Clermont Takes Lead in Conference Race

Thanks to a couple of wins during the past week, the UC Clermont volleyball team has taken sole possession of first place in the Ohio Collegiate Athletic Conference race at the midway point of the 2011 season.

The Cougars had a very productive week in winning the two conference matches plus an additional non-conference contest. They also raised a substantial amount of money for breast cancer research as a result of their second annual UC Clermont Volley for the Cure.

The biggest story of the day was the support for

the Volley for the Cure

. Students, family and friends filled the stands for the event. The day featured special opening ceremonies – including a first serve by breast cancer survivor and player mom Cheryl Walton. All proceeds from ticket sales, concessions and a spectacular raffle of goods donated by local merchants netted $1,333 – all of which is being donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A huge “thank you” goes to Keri Hays and Brian Sullivan for co-chairing the event, Judy Votel for organizing the hospitality room, all of the parents and Clermont staff who donated food, prizes, as well as their time and the players for decorating the gym.

Clermont kicked off their week’s schedule with a Friday night OCAC showdown at Ohio Christian. Both Ohio Christian and UC Clermont came into the match-up undefeated in conference play – with neither team dropping a single set to OCAC foes. The game definitely lived up to expectations.

Ohio Christian grabbed the early momentum in set one with a solid offensive attack and built a six point lead late in that game. Suddenly, the Cougars hit their own offensive and defensive stride to pull even and then eek out a 25-23 win.

Sets two and three had a slightly different look. Clermont’s tough serving helped them build significant leads in both games. The Cougars had to hold on, though, as a talented Ohio Christian team mounted late rallies. In the end, Clermont won both sets and the match 25-19, 25-16. The Cougars recorded 11 service aces and had only two serving errors for the entire match.

Sunday saw the team return home to host their annual

Cougar Classic

and

Volley for the Cure

benefit tri-match for breast cancer research.

In match one, the Cougars faced another conference rival in Ohio State-Marion. A packed house helped Clermont gain the early momentum from a young but scrappy Scarlet Wave squad. Clermont went on to a 25-12, 25-11, 25-11 victory to raise their OCAC record to 4-0. The Cougars hit .330 for the match and recorded 47 digs.

The middle contest saw Ohio State-Marion battle Wright State-Lake in a close affair before succumbing in four sets.

In the finale, UC Clermont played their first-ever match against Wright State-Lake. After a very competitive 25-20 first set win, the Cougars were able to settle into a solid transition game to take the next two sets 25-8 and 25-9.