Marshall University volleyball secured a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Ohio University Wednesday, under the Cam Henderson Center’s new videoboard. With the win, Marshall moved to a win-loss record of 4-4, while Ohio fell to 2-5.

“We’re so proud of the young kids,” Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. “Our young kids really stepped up tonight.”

After trailing in the beginning of the first set, Marshall went on a four-point run to take the lead. The game went back-and-forth , as the two teams tied 12 different times throughout the first set alone. Then, with the set tied at 20, freshman Joelle Coulter hit an outside kill to give the Herd the lead. After a subsequent Ohio hitting error, a kill by Marshall junior Ivana Trencheva and a service ace from J. Coulter, Marshall took a 24-20 lead. Ohio returned with a kill but lost the set due to a service error.

Ohio won the second set 25-21 and the Herd and Bobcats were tied 1-1 going into the third set. Ohio took an initial 5-1 lead but Marshall answered and tied the score at 13, as J. Coulter made a diving pass, which resulted in a rally and a personal kill. J. Coulter contributed nine kills in set three, while redshirt sophomore Ciara DeBell and freshman Isa Dostal won the set for the Herd with back-to-back kills.

Ohio jumped 7-1 lead in the fourth set and eventually held a 16-12 lead over the Herd. Later in the set, though, Marshall went on a four-point run to take the lead. Marshall won the set and match after kills from senior middle Lauren Mattmuller, Trencheva and J. Coulter.

“There’s no quit in this squad,” Jacobs said. “They’re just having fun. I noticed it was (tied) coming out of a timeout in the fourth set and two of our freshman are dancing. We’re in set four—huge moment—and they’re dancing. They’re telling me, ‘we’re here to have fun. We want to keep having fun playing volleyball.’”

J. Coulter led the team with a career-high 22 kills and one ace. DeBell added 12 kills, two aces, and two blocks. Gabrielle Coulter contributed 41 assists (220 on the season) and Amber Weber ended with 24 digs (133 on the season).

The Herd travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend for its next three matches. Marshall will play Alabama and Northern Illinois Friday and Georgia Tech Saturday.

Sydney Shelton can be contacted at [email protected].