MATCH STATS
- #19 Ohio State dominates Iowa Hawkeyes in 3 (25-15, 25-22, 25-9)
- Ohio State (13-7, 3-5), Iowa (15-5, 5-3)
The Ohio State Buckeyes swept Iowa (25-15, 25-22, 25-9) on Saturday night at home, giving the Hawkeyes their fifth loss and ending their best program start since 1988.
The Buckeyes hit .384 as the team, and had four players hit at least 7 kills.
Ohio State’s Valeria Leon is coming close to breaking the Buckeyes’ career digs record, and just needs 20 more to claim the top title.
The Buckeyes held a 18-6 lead at one point in the first set. The Hawkeyes held on in the second set, falling by only a 3-point margin. Ohio State crushed Iowa in the third set, allowing only 8 points.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 23 Ohio State University women’s volleyball team got back to its winning ways with a dominating effort of Iowa, outscoring the Hawkeyes in three sets (25-15, 25-22, 25-9). The Buckeyes spoiled Iowa’s best start since 1988 (entering at 14-4 and 5-2 in conference play) handing the Hawkeyes a fifth loss while improving to 13-7 overall (3-5 Big Ten) themselves.
A balanced offensive attack led to Ohio State attacking .384 as a team with four different Buckeyes recording seven or more kills. Taylor Sandbothe paced the squad terminating 11 kills at a .476 attacking clip. Audra Appold bounced 10 kills while hitting .316 to go along with seven kills apiece for Taylor Hughes (.500 attacking) and Madison Smeathers (.700 attacking). Ohio State created offense from the service stripe as well, totaling eight aces with half coming in quick fashion on four Luisa Schirmer aces during a five-point span building an early third-set edge.
Defensive contributions also came from a plethora of players. Valeria León continued to close in on the Ohio State career digs record, moving to within 20 more of overcoming Stacey Gordon (1,572 digs; 2001-04) for the top spot in Buckeye lore. Eight additional Buckeyes dug at least ball.
SET 1: Ohio State jumped ahead early and often to open the evening. The first set began as Ohio State seized five of the first six points to force a Hawkeye timeout and ended on an Iowa service error to conclude 25-15. The gap stretched to as many as a dozen at 18-6 and 20-8.
SET 2: Iowa flipped the script a bit in set number two, owners of a 15-11 advantage midway through. The next four rallies went in favor of the Scarlet & Gray, however, to even the ledger, 15-all. Ohio State continued the comeback en route to a 21-17 lead, resulting in Iowa’s second timeout in the last five points. The Buckeyes would hold on for a 25-22 winner.
SET 3: Things then got ugly in the third. Ohio State raced ahead 10-2 before a short Hawkeye counter caused an OSU timeout at 13-7. An eight-point run followed for the Buckeyes, fueled by superb service by Camry Halm, to put it out of reach at 21-8. The ultimate clinching score washed out at 25-9.
Up Next: Ohio State will face No. 10 Penn State Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Buckeye Stats
Taylor Sandbothe (11 kills, 1 aces, 5 digs)
Audra Appold (10 kills, 3 digs, 1 block)
Valeria Leon (10 digs)
Follow Ohio State on Facebook, Twitter @ohiostatewvball and Instagram@ohiostatewvball
Courtesy of Iowa Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reghan Coyle amassed nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage as the University of Iowa volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-9) to 19th-ranked Ohio State on Saturday night in St. John Arena. The Hawkeyes are now 15-5 on the season and 5-3 in Big Ten play.
“We have to go back to the drawing board,” said head coach Bond Shymansky. “It was a good weekend for us, in a way, to go 1-1 on a road trip in the Big Ten, but obviously we have to execute a lot stronger and stay in the moment a little bit longer. We will head back to work to prepare for next weekend.”
In addition to Coyle’s kills, the senior had three assists, two digs and a block. Ashley Mariani,Lauren Brobst and Jess Janota chipped in four kills each, while Loxley Keala led the squad with 14 digs.
During set one, Coyle racked up six kills on seven attacks for a .714 hitting percentage. The Hawkeyes then opened set two with a 4-2 run to take the early lead. The Buckeyes responded with a 4-1 run, but Iowa answered with four unanswered points as Marioni had a kill and Brobst had three blocks in a row to give the visiting team a 9-6 advantage.
After the home team went on a 4-2 run to pull within one point of Iowa, Jess Janota, Meghan Buzzerio and Coyle each had a kill as the Hawkeyes took a 15-11 lead. Ohio State used a 5-0 run to take the lead at 16-15. Iowa used a 4-2 run towards the end of the set, but the rally fell just short as the Buckeyes captured a 25-22 set win.
The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead in set three. The Hawkeyes went on a 5-3 run to cut into the home team’s advantage, but Iowa ultimately fell in the final set of the night.
Up Next: Iowa will face No. 3 Minnesota at home Friday night at 6 p.m.
Hawkeye Stats
Reghan Coyle (9 kills, 2 digs)
Loxley Keala (2 kills, 14 digs)
Follow Iowa on Facebook, Instagram @iowavolleyball and Twitter @IowaVolleyball
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