Ohio State Opens Conference Play with Home Sweep of Maryland

MATCH NOTES

Ohio State def. Maryland 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-16)
Ohio State moves to 8-4 overall, 1-0 conference
Maryland drops to 11-2 overall, 0-1 conference
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 1,007
Box Score
VolleyMob Top 25 (Week 5)

The Ohio State Buckeyes opened conference play with a straight-set sweep over the Maryland Terrapins, holding the Terps to their second-lowest hitting percentage of the season (.099).

Junior setter Taylor Hughes paced the Ohio State offense with 31 assists and senior outside Luisa Schirmer led all Buckeyes with a 13 kills. Senior outside Ashley Wenz notched an additional 10 kills, hitting at a .600 clip. Sophomore Camry Halm anchored the back-row defense with nine digs.

For Maryland, sophomore outside Gia Milana led the Terps with 10 kills. Freshman outside Erika Pritchard recorded three blocks and junior libero Kelsey Wicinski had eight digs to lead the Maryland defensive effort.

Set one featured 12 ties and nine lead changes until the Buckeyes pulled away 22-19 on back-to-back kills by Hughes and Halm. Ohio State went on to take that opening frame 25-20.

The Terps fell behind 5-1 in the second set, but stormed back to knot things at 13 on a kill by junior outside Angel Gaskin. Ohio State answered with a 10-2 run of its own that eventually led to the 25-16 second-set victory.

The Buckeyes recorded 16 kills in the third set on .536 hitting, taking the frame by a comfortable 25-16 margin.

Ohio State plays Purdue at 8:30 ET on Saturday in a match that will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, while the Terps travel to Indiana to play the Hoosiers, also on Saturday.

VIDEO

Our crew in Columbus breaks down the opening match of @B1GVolleyball, a 3-0 victory for @ohiostatewvball pic.twitter.com/YXGU37YL0I

— BTN Student U (@BTNStudentU) September 21, 2017

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics

BUCKEYES TAKE DOWN MARYLAND IN BIG TEN OPENER

Ohio State has won its last three matches

Set 1: The opening frame featured 12 ties and nine lead changes as the two teams battled for dominance. Ohio State sent UMD to its bench for the second time after kills by Hughes and Halm gave the team a 22-19 lead. Back on the court, a pair of errors and daggers from Ayanna Swan and Schirmer got the win, 25-20.

Set 2: The Buckeyes had a 5-1 advantage early in the second set, but the Terps battled back to tie the score at 13. Refusing to back down, Ohio State strung together a 10-2 run to claim a 25-16 triumph. OSU smothered Maryland’s offense as the visitors hit -.027 (8-9-37) for the frame.

Set 3: Smeathers and Wenz were both a perfect 5-for-5 on kills without any errors in the third. As a team, the Buckeyes attacked .536 for 16 kills. Ohio State forced Maryland to burn its timeouts early with a 16-8 lead. The Terrapins were able to pull within six, 18-12, but the Buckeyes charged ahead to close the set, 25-16.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s volleyball team kicked off Big Ten Conference action with a straight set victory (25-20, 25-16, 25-16) over Maryland (11-2, 0-1 Big Ten) on Wednesday night at St. John Arena. The Buckeyes are on a three-match win streak and improve to 8-4 (1-0 Big Ten).

The Scarlet and Gray held the Terrapins to a .099 (28-19-91) hitting percentage, their second-lowest clip of the season.

Once again, Luisa Schirmer paced the squad with a match-best 13 kills. Ashley Wenz hit .600 on the night after connecting on 10-of-15 attempts with only one error. Madison Smeathers followed up with eight kills and Taylor Hughes handed-out 31 assists. Camry Halm tallied nine digs while Hannah Gruensfelder and Hughes scooped seven apiece.

Ohio State plays its first B1G road contest at #13 Purdue on Saturday (Sept. 23). First serve is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.

Courtesy: Maryland Athletics

TERRAPINS DROP TO OHIO STATE IN B1G OPENER

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore outside hitter Gia Milana notched double-digit kills for the seventh time this season, but the Maryland volleyball team (11-2) fell to Ohio State (8-4) in straight sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-16) Wednesday evening.

“Congrats to Ohio State on playing a great match,” head coach Steve Aird said. “It’s hard to win on the road in this conference. I think this was another important lesson for our young team.”

Milana tallied 10 kills against the Buckeyes to lead Maryland. Freshman outside Erika Pritchard paced the Terps with three blocks while junior libero Kelsey Wicinski had a team-high eight digs.

The teams tied 12 times in the first set as Maryland battled with Ohio State. Angel Gaskin had two early blocks to put the Terps ahead, 3-1, and a Jada Gardner-Pritchard block put Maryland up, 7-6. The teams continued to trade points before the Buckeyes went on a 3-0 run to take a 20-17 advantage. OSU finished the set on a 5-1 run to win, 25-20.

Ohio State took a 5-1 lead early in the second set, but Maryland was able to fight back and tie on a Pritchard kill at 7-7. The teams stayed close, but the Buckeyes strung together a 10-2 run to stifle the Maryland offense and take the second set, 25-16.

Milana hit .375 in the third game as the Terps tried to get back into the match. Ohio State forced a Maryland timeout ahead 10-5 and increased its lead to 16-8. The Terrapins went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to five before the Buckeyes went on a 3-0 run of their own to go ahead, 21-12. Milana, Liz Twilley and Hailey Murray notched late kills, but Ohio State was able to close the set, 25-16.

The Terps return to action on the road at Indiana on Saturday at 7 p.m.