Match Stats
- Ohio State def. Indiana 3-2, (25-14, 21-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-11)
- Ohio State improves to 20-12, 10-10 B1G, Indiana falls to 17-16, 6-14 B1G
- Hosted by Ohio State
Press Release
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University women’s volleyball team closed out the regular season and sent off the seniors in their final home match by emerging victorious in five sets for the second straight night. Saturday was a 25-14, 21-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-11 final ledger over the visiting Indiana Hoosiers (17-16, 6-14 Big Ten). Ohio State carries a 20-12 overall record and 10-10 conference tally into the postseason. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is set to air at 9 p.m. ET. Sunday (Nov. 27) on ESPNU.
Seniors Taylor Sandbothe and Valeria León lifted the Buckeyes in their last match at St. John Arena. Sandbothe attacked .514 to pace all players with 22 kills while León dug a match-high 17 balls to irritate the IU offensive attack. Sandbothe led OSU in blocks as well, stuffing four Hoosier attempts. Fellow senior Abby Fesl dished out 15 assists and connected on her eighth service ace in the last five matches.
Underclassmen Madison Smeathers and Taylor Hughes were also pivotal in the Buckeye win. Smeathers compiled a career-high 13 kills, crushing her previous best of eight kills. Hughes flashed her versatility once again, compiling 35 assists, 10 kills at a .529 attacking rate, seven digs, three blocks and three aces.
SET 1: Fesl’s ace finished off a 3-0 run to begin the night for Ohio State. After Indiana stormed back to even the score at 5-5, the Buckeyes rattled off six in a row and never looked back in a 25-14 whitewashing. Sandbothe terminated all six of her attack attempts and Ohio State swung .545 as a team in the lopsided opening frame.
SET 2: Sandbothe’s first three swings of the second stanza found pay dirt as well, aiding Ohio State to a 16-12 advantage and forcing a Hoosier timeout. Indiana responded well to the break in action, seizing the next four points to knot the score at 16-16. The stalemate continued at 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21 before a four-point IU spurt sent the match to intermission locked up at one set apiece.
SET 3: Fesl and Hughes evenly distributed 14 assists, seven each, in set number three — setting up the vast majority to middles Sandbothe and Smeathers. Sandbothe downed six kills hitting .444 while Smeathers dropped in five kills on seven errorless shots (.714). The Buckeyes leapt on top for good at 7-6, cruising to a 25-17 winner.
SET 4: Indiana flipped the script in the subsequent set, catapulting a five-point run at 10-9 to 15-9 and rolling 25-16 in the match equalizer.
SET 5: Hughes re-ignited the stagnant OSU offense in the final frame, connecting on three kills of her own and combining with Fesl to assist on seven of eight Buckeye kills. Steered by Fesl and Hughes, Ohio State hit .353 in the decisive period. Three different Buckeyes registered kills during a 5-1 run which broke up a 4-4 tie and gave Ohio State a 9-5 edge. Indiana would trim two points off that deficit by set’s end, but it wasn’t enough as the Buckeyes closed the door 15-11.
Press Release
Courtesy of Indiana Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior Allison Hammond led the Hoosiers with 17 kills, but the Indiana volleyball team fell in five sets (14-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16, 11-15) at Ohio State on Saturday.
Senior Taylor Lebo tallied 12 digs as she moved into ninth on the Hoosiers all-time list for single season digs with 413. Lebo finishes her career with 1,171 digs, which ranks sixth on the Hoosiers all-time list.
Senior Megan Tallman posted 41 assists in the match against Ohio State. Tallman will finish with 3,711 career assists, which ranks her fourth on the Hoosiers all-time list.
The match had several momentum swings, but the Hoosiers (17-16, 6-14 Big Ten) came up with a big answer after trailing the match 2-1.
Indiana controlled the fourth set as they hit .355 and held Ohio State (20-12, 10-10 Big Ten) to a .138 hitting percentage.
The Hoosiers started the fifth set with a block and it was 4-4 through the first eight points of the set. Ohio State scored two points in a row to gain momentum and build a lead they would not give up.
The Hoosiers stayed close at 13-11, but the Buckeyes scored the final two points of the match to win the fifth set, 15-11 and win the match.
“This is a great season,” IU head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “It is a great season. It is not a good season. We made steps to the standard we want to play in this program. Our seniors have left a mark on this program and they are always going to be here. It is now your jobs to keep moving forward with it. It has been a lot of fun and I’m proud of this team.”
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